page_title: Blue Bell Creameries
section_title: Products
hierarchical_section_title: Blue Bell Creameries / Products
caption_attribution_description: Blue Bell shop
context_page_description: Blue Bell Creameries is an American food company that manufactures ice cream. It was founded in 1907 in Brenham, Texas. For much of its early history, the company manufactured both ice cream and butter locally. In the mid-20th century, it abandoned butter production and expanded to the entire state of Texas and soon much of the Southern United States. The company's corporate headquarters are located at the "Little Creamery" in Brenham, Texas. Since 1919, it has been in the hands of the Kruse family. As of 2015, Blue Bell is the number two selling ice cream manufacturer in the United States.
context_section_description: Blue Bell produces over 250 different frozen products.  Of these, 66 are flavors of ice cream. Twenty of the flavors are offered year-round, while an additional two to three dozen are offered seasonally. In addition to ice cream, the company produces frozen yogurt, sherbet, and an array of frozen treats on a stick. Unlike competitors which have reduced their standard containers to 48-56 fluid ounces (1.42-1.66 L), Blue Bell continues to sell true half-gallon (64 fl oz/1.89 L) containers, a fact it mentions prominently in its advertising.
  Blue Bell introduced its flagship flavor, Homemade Vanilla, in 1969 and was the first company to mass-produce the flavor Cookies 'n Cream. Although the company at one time made Cookies 'n Cream from Nabisco's Oreo cookies, buying ordinary retail packages, today it bakes its own cookies.  As of 1997, Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla was the best-selling single flavor of ice cream in the United States, and in 2001, Forbes named Blue Bell the best ice cream in the country.
  R.W. Apple, Jr., of The New York Times claimed in 2006 that "[w]ith clean, vibrant flavors and a rich, luxuriant consistency achieved despite a butterfat content a little lower than some competitors, it hooks you from the first spoonful. Entirely and blessedly absent are the cloying sweetness, chalky texture, and oily, gummy aftertaste that afflict many mass-manufactured ice creams."
  Occasionally, when Blue Bell enters a market the company marks the occasion with the introduction of a regional flavor within that market. For example, when it entered Colorado on March 14, 2011, Blue Bell introduced a new flavor exclusive to Colorado, Rocky Mountain Road, made with more premium ingredients (including chocolate-covered nuts and a marshmallow swirl) compared to its year-round Rocky Road. While the test market was in the Denver metropolitan area, there was speculation that the rest of the state would soon see Blue Bell on store shelves. Eventually, this flavor would be distributed to Blue Bell's entire sales territory.
  In 2018, children of an interracial family posted an open letter on Facebook addressed to Blue Bell asking that the flavor "The Great Divide" (equal halves of chocolate and vanilla) be changed to "Better Together". While Blue Bell spokespersons reacted positively to the name change proposal, the post became controversial among some Facebook users who dismissed the original name as inoffensive.
caption: Blue Bell shop at George Bush Intercontinental Airport
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