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Blue Bell Ice Cream Is Back in Grocery Stores

After a long recall and shutdown, Blue Bell Ice Cream returns to grocery stores.

By Margaret MinnicksPublished 5 years ago 4 min read
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Blue Bell Ice Cream (Photo by Margaret Minnicks)

Blue Bell Ice Cream is back in the grocery stores after a long absence. In 2015, the company issued its first recall after operating 108 years without having to do so. The recall of over eight million gallons of the product had to be disposed of after three people died from listeria. Stores no longer carried the ice cream for four years while the company was shut down.

The return of the product to stores was done in five phases from August 2015 to March 2019. Therefore, the popular ice cream is back in all the stores it was in before the recall and the shutdown.

About Blue Bell Ice Cream

Blue Bell Ice Cream is made with milk, cream, sugar, and other ingredients. It comes in half gallon cartons that contain two full quarts of ice cream. It is also available in pints, but it is better to purchase the half gallon size to save you a trip to the grocery store so soon to buy more. Smaller containers with only one individual serving are also available in three-ounce cups.

It is different from other brands of ice cream, because what is advertised on the carton is exactly what you will get inside. For instance, if you choose Buttered Pecan, you don't get just bits and pieces of pecans. You get halved pieces of pecans in every scoop. Also, in Southern Peach Cobbler, you get big chunks of peaches. In Banana Pudding, you get to eat whole vanilla wafers.

Blue Bell Ice Cream doesn't come with an expiration date on the carton, because fans buy and eat it long before it expires. Besides, the dairy product can be preserved over a year. However, it will never stay in your freezer that long, because you or someone in your household will eat, and enjoy it long before then.

Gold and brown tops.

Notice the brown and gold tops. (Photo by Margaret Minnicks)

Perhaps you have noticed that some flavors are in cartons with brown tops, and some flavors are in cartons with gold tops. (See the tops in the photos above). Some tops are brown and some are gold for a reason

The cartons with brown tops have many of the standard flavors, such as Peaches and Homemade Vanilla, Cookies 'n Cream, Southern Peach Cobbler, and Dutch Chocolate. The cartons with the gold tops contain other flavors. A few flavors with gold tops include Buttered Pecan, Banana Split, Raspberry Fudge Brownie, Pecan Pralines 'n Cream, and Moo-llenium Crunch.

Blue tops:

Blue Bell Blue Tops (Photo by Margaret Minnicks)

All Blue Bell Ice Cream won't have you worrying about your health because the company provides light, and no-sugar-added ice cream. Look for them in containers with blue tops. They are low in calories, but high in flavor like flavors in containers with brown and gold tops.

Blue Bell Ice Cream is not in every state.

The Brenham, Texas-based store was founded in 1907. It is the fourth highest-selling ice cream brand in the United States, even though it is not available in every state. The brand is found in most grocery stores in only 10 states.

  1. Alabama
  2. Arkansas
  3. Arizona
  4. Florida
  5. Georgia
  6. Louisiana
  7. Mississippi
  8. South Carolina
  9. Tennessee
  10. Texas
Blue Bell is also available in some parts of ten other states.

  1. Colorado
  2. Indiana
  3. Kansas
  4. Kentucky
  5. Missouri
  6. New Mexico
  7. North Carolina
  8. Oklahoma
  9. Virginia
  10. Wyoming

If the popular ice cream brand is not in your state, you can certainly place your order at (979) 836-7977. The orders are shipped by UPS for next day delivery in any place in the United States.

Blue Bell has interesting ways of dispensing its products. Other than being limited to certain states in the United States, and certain parts of states, it does not carry the same flavors in every store. Your friends across town might not be able to get the flavors you get in your neighborhood, and you might not get the same flavor in your store every time you go. There are very good reasons for that.

Rotational flavors.

Some flavors are rotated in the stores. (Photo by Margaret Minnicks)

Don't expect to find the same flavors all the time in your local grocery store. About 23 flavors remain in the store throughout the year. Others flavors are available in certain stores on a rotational basis.

There are seven flavors available at certain times of the year. For example, you can buy Peaches and Homemade Vanilla only in the spring, and summer time when peaches are at their best. Don't expect to find that flavor during the fall and winter months.

More information about Blue Bell.

Many people know only about Blue Bell Ice Cream even though the country also makes sherbert, frozen yogurt, and frozen snacks, such as ice cream sandwiches.

Blue Bell produces over 250 different frozen products, including 66 ice cream flavors. Twenty of the flavors are offered all year long. About 36 flavors are offered only seasonally.

The half gallon containers of Blue Bell Ice Cream are much larger than containers of other brands. That's because they are true half gallons of exactly 64 ounces. That amount is stamped on the containers for all to see. Other ice cream companies have containers with only 48-56 ounces.

When Blue Bell first got started, it produced both ice cream, and butter locally in Texas. Butter production ended in the mid-20th century. Since then, the company has carried only ice cream, and other frozen products.

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About the Creator

Margaret Minnicks

Margaret Minnicks shares articles with readers all over the world. Topics include celebrities, royal family, movies, television, foods, drinks, health issues, and other interesting things. Thanks in advance for TIPS that are sent my way.

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