Blue Bell Announces Plan to Distribute Ice Cream to Select Cities
The Texas-based company will begin shipping ice cream starting August 31.
According to a press release from the company, Blue Bell has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state health officials in Alabama and Texas that they plan to re-enter in select markets.
You can read the full press release from Blue Bell below.
Brenham, TX, August 17, 2015 – Blue Bell Creameries announced today it will begin distributing ice cream to select markets on Monday, August 31.
Blue Bell has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state health officials in Alabama and Texas of its plan to re-enter select markets on a limited basis.
“Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “This is an exciting time for us as we are back to doing what we love…making ice cream!”
The Blue Bell production facility in Sylacauga, Ala., began producing ice cream in late July. Additional production facilities in Brenham, Texas, and Broken Arrow, Okla., are still undergoing facility and production process upgrades similar to those made at the Alabama plant.
Due to the limited production capacity while producing in one facility, Blue Bell will re-enter parts of 15 states in five phases. The first of the five phases will be similar to how Blue Bell began and include the Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, areas, as well as parts of Alabama, (Birmingham and Montgomery) where the product is being made. The next phases include:
Phase Two: North central Texas and southern Oklahoma
Phase Three: Southwest Texas and central Oklahoma
Phase Four: The majority of Texas and southern Louisiana.
Phase Five: Complete the states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas and begin distribution in Arkansas, Florida, northern Louisiana and Mississippi. This phase will also include only parts of the following states: Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Blue Bell will move on to each phase based on product availability and when it can properly service the customers in an area. With the exception of phase one, no other dates have been determined for when each expansion will take place.For more information and to follow the company’s progress visit bluebell.com.
Blue Bell voluntarily pulled all its ice cream products from store shelves in April 2015 after several people were infected with listeria traced back to the company's ice cream products.