Ice Cream Brands » Blue Bell Creameries Ice Cream

Blue Bell Creameries Ice Cream

Blue Bell Creameries ice cream is the manufacturer of Blue Bell brand ice cream, made ever since 1911. Its corporate headquarters are in Brenham, Texas.

History

The Brenham Creamery Company had opened for the business in August, 1907. Their first product was butter. Small production of ice cream began in the year1911, no more then one to two gallons a day. Praise of the ice cream spread by a word-of-mouth, and the creamery ramped up production to meet the demand. By 1930, the company name had changed to Blue Bell Creameries.

After many years of selling blue bell ice cream only in Brenham, the company began selling it in Houston, then in the Dallas and throughout most of Texas. In year1989, sales began in the Oklahoma, and throughout the 1990s, aggressive expansion pushed throughout the South Central and the Southern United States. In year1992, Blue Bell built a new manufacturing facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and in 1996, purchased an existing ice cream factory in Sylacauga, Alabama. Blue Bell holds impressive sales figures, being the 3rd best-selling ice cream in United States as of 2004, behind Brayers and Eddy’s/Dreyer's, despite being sold in the only 16 states.

Blue Bell introduced its flagship flavor, "Homemade Vanilla," in 1969 and was the first to mass-produce "Cookies 'n Cream" in the year 1980. Their ice cream product line includes over twenty flavors produced by year-round and more than twenty other flavors produced seasonally. In addition to ice cream, the company produced frozen yogurt, sherbet, and an array of frozen ice cream treats on stick.

Culture

Blue Bell ice cream is considered somewhat of the institution in Texas, with visits to its Brenham plant being a very popular family activity, especially from the nearby Houston area. For a nominal admission price, the customer gets the tour of the factory and ice cream samples at the end of tours.

Blue Bell is mentioned in the song "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)" by Bowling for Soup from their album A Hangover You Don't Deserve (2004).