Blue Bell Ice Cream has been off grocery store shelves in Middle Tennessee for about 9 months, but next week the company will enter phase five of its market re-entry plan over a two-week period beginning Jan. 18. In April 2015, Blue Bell issued a voluntary recall of all of its products currently on the market because they were potentially contaminated with Listeria.
Blue Bell began producing ice cream again in July 2015 and prepared a five phase plan to integrate their products back into the market. Now in their fifth and final phase, Tennesseans will once again get to buy Blue Bell Ice Cream.
“Our fans in phase five have been waiting on this news for a long time,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “We will begin filling stores on Jan. 18, but due to the size of the area and the number of stores to be serviced, it will take additional time to deliver to all locations. All of us at Blue Bell are very thankful for the patience and support our customers have shown during this time.”
Beginning January 18th, Blue Bell will begin to deliver ice cream to numerous Tennessee cities including: Franklin, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Dickson, Chattanooga and Knoxville.
For now Blue Bell is producing the following flavors of ice cream: Buttered Pecan, Cookies ’n Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Homemade Vanilla, Peppermint, Pistachio Almond and The Great Divide. 12-pak Homemade Vanilla Cups and 12-pak Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate Cups are also available in stores.
At the completion of this phase all of the company’s furloughed employees will have returned to work.
“Upon the completion of phase five, we will turn our attention to building inventory for the spring as well as adding additional products and flavors to our line-up.” Dickson added. “Even though we do not have a specific date, we plan to expand our sales territory whenever we are properly positioned to do so.”
For more information on each phase and to search if ice cream is currently available in your area, visit www.bluebell.com and click on Blue Bell Locator.
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