Where is bluebell ice cream from

In Kruse changed the name of the company to Blue Bell Creamery. The name was taken from the bluebell, a native Texan wildflower that proliferates in the hot Texas summers--high season for enjoying ice cream. In Blue Bell acquired a refrigerated truck, allowing the company to distribute fresh ice cream longer distances, as well as a continuous freezer, which increased production capacity.

Though Blue Bell is not owned by the Kruse family, it has been operated like a family business. Kruse brought his sons, Edward and Howard, into the company when they were 13 and 11 years old, respectively.

The two made ice cream sandwiches and frozen snacks on a stick and prepared fresh peaches for mixing into an ice cream base. After a short time in another food company, Ed Kruse rejoined Blue Bell at the request of his father, becoming a salesman in The same year, E. Kruse died and Ed Kruse was selected to take his place, becoming manager of Blue Bell at 23 years of age. Howard Kruse returned to Blue Bell in as plant supervisor.

He quickly immersed himself in the details and nuances of making quality ice cream. In Howard was promoted to assistant manager of the company, though he also supervised the plant.

In Blue Bell ceased production of butter and focused solely on the production and sale of ice cream. In addition to the Kruses, another Brenham, Texas native joined the company at a young age. John Barnhill worked in the Brenham plant for the Kruse brothers and also painted the Blue Bell advertising slogans on drugstore windows where their products were sold.

After college, Barnhill rejoined the company in as its first Houston salesman. In Barnhill became branch manager of Houston, Blue Bell's first sales and distribution branch outside of Brenham. In another distribution center opened in Austin and the company began automated production of ice cream. A banner year for Blue Bell came in when Howard Kruse developed the company's bestselling ice cream, Homemade Vanilla, and Metzdorf Advertising Agency was hired to develop a country image for Blue Bell.

These two events complemented each other as the new advertising strategy emphasized the company's country origins and original hand-cranked ice cream. Howard Kruse intended the new Homemade Vanilla to imitate ice cream made the old-fashioned way, hand-cranked at home. The country image portrayed throughout Blue Bell's advertising history, primarily developed by Barnhill and Metzdorf, continued with the concept of "The Little Creamery in Brenham.

Although Blue Bell salesmen in Houston were warned that a country ice cream could not compete in a large city against more than ten different ice cream companies, Blue Bell became the bestselling ice cream in Houston by the mids. The company's country image became an asset rather than a detriment. In that country image developed to include a silhouette of a young girl pulling a cow on a rope as the company logo.

Homemade Vanilla had become the signature ice cream of the company, a top seller in every market. Nevertheless, no company is without setbacks, and many folks still don't understand exactly what happened to Blue Bell ice cream. In , the company faced allegations of a Listeria contamination, which can be very dangerous if consumed. Soon after, Blue Bell ice cream recalled several flavors and stopped production for three months in an effort to clean up the facilities.

The company took several measures to fix the problem, and eventually started making ice cream again. Blue Bell products re-entered the market about five months after production originally closed. It all started back in when a group of local farmers in Brenham, Texas, decided to work together and founded the Brenham Creamery Company. They pooled their resources, the output of their Jersey cows, and their dairy expertise, and started making butter out of the excess cream that the area farmers dropped off by area dairy farmers whose cows had produced a little extra.

A few years later, the creamery realized what else they could do with all that excess cream. Soon they started churning out the best ice cream around—albeit just two gallons of ice cream at a time—selling it under the Brenham Creamery Company name and delivering it to neighbors by horse and wagon.

It took them about 20 years to realize that they could do better name wise, at least. In fact, we care so much about delivering on our commitment, we go the extra mile for our customers. We have become a leader in ice cream safety, with enhanced production facilities and processes. Our commitment to safety is renewed every day through our extensive daily cleaning and sanitation, employee safety procedures and product testing program.

In fact, our ice cream is not shipped to stores until independent tests confirm it is safe. One thing that remains the same is how we make ice cream. But how did this little creamery from the small town of Brenham, Texas, become a top-selling ice cream company? By working to make each new spoonful of your favorite flavor of Blue Bell Ice Cream taste as delicious as the last. Grab a bowl of ice cream, have a seat and enjoy some of our favorite radio and television commercials.

Visit us in our hometown of Brenham, Texas!