Who Owns Blue Bell Ice Cream?

The company began in 1907 as the Brenham Creamery Company, a farmers' cooperative in Brenham, Texas, making butter from local cream. Ice cream production started in 1911, and the name changed to Blue Bell Creameries in 1930 after the Texas wildflower.

Blue Bell built its business on slow, deliberate expansion through the South and Southwest, adding Oklahoma and Louisiana in the mid-twentieth century and gradually reaching about two dozen states. It deliberately avoided national distribution, insisting on controlling quality through its own direct-store-delivery network.

The brand's most serious crisis came in 2015, when listeria contamination linked to its plants sickened 10 people and was associated with three deaths. Blue Bell recalled all products in April 2015, the first total recall in its history, shut down production for months, and laid off about a third of its workforce. The company returned to stores in late 2015 with overhauled safety systems, and in 2020 it pleaded guilty to federal misdemeanor charges and paid $19.35 million in fines and forfeiture over the outbreak.

Since the recovery, Blue Bell has expanded distribution gradually into states including Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio, and it now serves parts of about 24 states through 67 branch distribution facilities. It remains one of the top three US ice cream brands despite its regional footprint.