Area Blue Bell Ice Cream consumers who really need a scoop don’t have to wait for the product to return to the stores.
They can order it from the company’s Brenham, Texas, headquarters and it will be shipped on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays by UPS for next-day delivery.
Orders are filled first come, first served, and only a limited number can be filled daily. Even with a shipping delay, Blue Bell said the ice cream should remain frozen for up to 36 hours.
The company says on its website that at a price of $129 for four half-gallons, it can ship anywhere in the U.S. It said most of the cost, which works out to $32.25 a half-gallon, is because of shipping charges.
Blue Bell said grocers determine the retail price. A Brenham Walmart Supercenter was selling half-gallons this morning for $6.24.
Costs are higher for shipment to Hawaii or to Anchorage, Alaska.
Blue Bell said shipping is the one way to get the ice cream if it hasn’t yet returned to a customer’s market. “We were getting asked, because of the way we were rolling out our re-entry, is there some way I can get it?” said spokesman Joe Robertson.
Since it began the service Sept. 8, Blue Bell has delivered 494 shipments, Robertson said. Of those, 22 were shipped to 19 Florida cities, including Jacksonville.
The company can offer just five flavors for shipment: Buttered Pecan, Cookies ‘n Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Homemade Vanilla and The Great Divide.
Blue Bell recalled all of its products in April after discovering contamination by the listeria bacteria. Health officials linked its ice cream to three deaths at a Kansas hospital and to illnesses in other areas.
The family-owned company cleaned and sanitized its four production plants and 50 distribution centers, including the Westside Jacksonville center.
Blue Bell, a 108-year-old company, is returning its products to markets in phases.
It returned to some Texas and Alabama markets Aug. 31. This week, it began stocking again in other Texas markets and in Oklahoma. That was phase two. Robertson said Florida would be in phase five, but he had no timeline for the next phases.
Blue Bell is making products at two plants in Alabama and Oklahoma. The company said ice cream is not distributed until it is tested to make sure it is safe for consumption.
Blue Bell was the third-largest ice-cream producer in the country last year with sales in 23 states. After the recall, it laid off more than a third of its workforce, including two jobs at its 30-member staff in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville distribution center, at 3100 Imeson Road, covers a 90-mile market in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Robertson said furloughed employees will be brought back when distribution is resumed.
In the meantime, consumers who want the ice cream shipped can find ordering information at bluebell.com.
Robertson said Blue Bell has shipped its ice cream nationally for many years and re-started the service after production resumed.
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