A VISIT TO THE BLUE BELL CREAMERIES

The Blue Bell Creameries market their product as "the best ice cream in the country," and as any of their loyal customers will tell you, that's not just hype.

They make Blue Bell Ice Cream, which is ranked as the third best-selling ice cream brand in the United States. An amazing statistic, considering that Blue Bell is only sold in the southeastern states,  a mere 17% portion of the country.

Blue Bell Creameries was founded in Brenham, Texas, a small town located 90 miles southwest of the Texas capital of Austin and about 70 miles west of Houston. This is their original home, where they started out selling butter in 1907. They began making ice cream in 1911.  Still family-owned and operated, they are one of the few companies who still let the public come in and tour their production facilities.

The countryside view, on a fresh spring Texas day, looks just like the Blue Bell ads with the fields of cows, bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes as far as the eye can see.

They're building a new focal point on the front of the company property to mark the celebration of their 100th anniversary.  In front of the Welcome Center is a shiny black Ford refrigerated truck from the 1930's. The refrigerated truck enabled Blue Bell to start marketing their ice cream a bit farther than the local Brenham area back in 1936.

Inside the Welcome Center is a main room with large, blown-up black and white pictures of the Blue Bell Creamery of the past. Other items from the past are displayed around the room. They're similar to the ones on the postcard shown here.  A Simplex Time Recorder is hanging on the wall. It was used by early employees to record their work time. An old metal ice cream snack mold sits upon a table. In a small display case near the cash register are some examples of early Blue Bell packaging.

Off to one side of the main room is The Country Store and Ice Cream Parlor. The ice cream parlor serves a variety of ice cream flavors to visitors and customers. The gift shop has many items, some marked with the Blue Bell logos. Tee shirts that say I Heart Blue Bell and I Get Cranky without my Blue Bell line one wall. Small items such as magnets, cookbooks and mouse pads in the shape of a half-gallon of Blue Bell Ice Cream are for sale. On the wall are framed newspaper articles about the company. It's bright, clean, and a great place to stop for an ice cream any time.

The plant operates in full production mode from March 1 to September 30, and although they operate year round, not as much ice cream is made during the fall and winter months. Tours are still are available year round.

Each tour takes only 45 people and there are several scheduled each day. Groups over 15 must have a reservation, and for everyone else it's first come, first served.

The tour begins with a short movie in a small auditorium, also off the main room. Forty-five seats are available in theatre style seating for the short, yet entertaining, seven-minute film on the history of Blue Bell. The tour guide on this particular tour was Texas friendly and seemed as content as the cows that their brand is known for. After the film, the group takes a walk up through the production facilities.

Along the hallways that lead to the enclosed, air-conditioned catwalk that spans the production room are vintage Blue Bell advertisements, awards and historic photos. One passes the employee break room, which has an open glass window. There you can see the freezer full of of ice cream snacks which gives credence to the company motto "We eat all we can and sell the rest."

The production room is well-lit and filled with stainless steel equipment that is manufactured in Germany to company specifications. The fresh milk is brought in every morning from local farms and piped into the large containers where the ice cream mix is added and the milk is pasteurized and homogenized. This side of the room is also where flavorings are added.

They make certain products on certain days. On the day of this tour they are producing Pistachio Almond flavor, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and ice cream sandwiches.

The other side of the huge room holds the rest of the view of the automated processes. There's the station where the all the goodies are added. We can see large quantities of chopped almonds and small pieces of cookie dough being added to the vats. A machine spits out cartons and lids, where a spout fills each half-gallon container with the bright green confection, spinning the container around automatically so that it fills properly and without air. Immediately after filling and the lid is placed, four or five of the containers are put into a cardboard sleeve which is immediately turned upside down so that it seals nicely. Then the sleeves head down a conveyor belt to the Blast Freezer, which, the tour guide explains, maintains a temperature of 100 degrees below zero.

The Ice Cream Sandwich Machine is a marvel itself, considering that they used to be made and wrapped by hand. You can see the employees stacking the chocolate cookies into a slot, where it makes it way down to the small blocks of ice cream. Later, the machine wraps each individual snack in paper wrappers and a box is filled with the completed snack.

The tour guide also explains that each employee down there changes jobs every twenty minutes. This is to relieve boredom from the repetitious nature of these jobs and also ensures that every employee knows how to do every job. There's a lab located elsewhere in the building, where the employees taste and analyze the products for quality control.

Another amazing fact is revealed: Blue Bell doesn't pay for shelf space in the supermarkets. Almost unheard of. That tells you something about the degree of loyalty from their customers.

Blue Bell Ice Cream is different from most other ice cream in that the company makes sure that only Blue Bell employees handle the product from the beginning of production all the way down to delivery to the stores. They feel that this method, ensures that the product maintains the high quality and necessary temperature controls all the way through the process.

Another room we visit, with a closer view of the Ice Cream Sandwich Machine, also holds a small locomotive created by local Brenham artists that will be auctioned off for charity later in the year. There's an example of a horse-drawn buggy that was used for deliveries in the beginning, before the advent of the trucks and refrigerated trucks. There's also a small machine, appearing so very small compared to the larger equipment used today, that was used to make only a few gallons at a time.

The tour ends in the Ice Cream Parlor, where every guest is offered a dish of the Blue Bell flavor of their choice. In the summer, when the tours are more crowded, the ice cream for the tour goers is given out in a lobby area of the main plant building and guests are ushered outside to to enjoy their treats, but during slower times, it's enjoyed indoors.  Each tour lasts approximately 45 minutes.  Of course, it takes a while longer to savor your ice cream.

The plant employees about 800 people, many of whom started at Blue Bell in high school and continued throughout their adult life. Perhaps one incentive for contented employment is that employees are encouraged to eat all the ice cream they want.

It's a refreshing look at a small company that's successful because of the care that they put into their product. They expand slowly and meticulously, choosing quality over quantity. And judging by the demand for their product, it's a plan that's obviously working .

You can visit the Blue Bell website to find out about new flavors, which of their rotating flavors are available during which months and more information about each flavor.

Blue Bell opened a plant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in 1992 and in 1996 they purchased a manufacturing facility in Sylacauga, Alabama. Tours of these facilities are also available, although on an appointment basis only.