According to a recent report from Business Insider, Blue Bell ice cream is headed back to Alabama and Texas, and re-introduced itself into the market on Monday. While most businesses find their downfall in lack of experience (with insufficient capital coming in a close second), Blue Bell took a break after its products were linked to cases of Listeria, three of which proved to be fatal. Customers seem to have forgotten the issue, buying up the ice cream as soon as it hit the shelves.
Larry Hargis, manager of the H-E-B supermarket in Brenham, Blue Bell’s Hometown, was glad to see that sales were successful. “There’s been a steady of flow of customers buying Blue Bell ice cream. They’re happy to see it back. Most people are taking their limit of four tubs. We still have some left, and we’re taking another delivery in a little while,”
There were four flavors released in total: Dutch Chocolate, Cookies’n Cream, Homemade Vanilla, and The Great Divide. The company hopes to deliver more flavors as they gradually return to their normal level of production. During the shutdown, Blue Bell let 235 full-time workers go, along with 109 part-time workers, accounting for more than one-third of its total workforce. The shutdown was initiated after 10 cases of listeriosis were reported, detailing a serious bacterial infection that led to three deaths. Blue Bell’s VP of sales and marketing, Ricky Dickson, released the following statement:
“Over the past several months, we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to make sure everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality.”
The public, on the other hand, doesn’t seem as worried. The president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, Page Michel, says: “We love Blue Bell here in Brenham. From school kids to adults, we will be hitting the stores, trying to get some ice cream.”
