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Ice cream company hits Charleston market
By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer
Blue Bell Ice Cream of Brenham, Texas, sold in only 16 states but touted as the nation’s No. 3 best-selling ice cream brand, made its Lowcountry debut March 13.
The ice cream is sold at Piggly Wiggly, Bi-Lo, Publix, Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart, plus other chains and independent grocery stores.
Other cities being served by Blue Bell’s expansion into the tri-county market include Georgetown and Walterboro.
Blue Bell made its initial entry into the South Carolina market two years ago when the company built a distribution center in Charlotte, N.C., which made shipments to Columbia and Greenville.
Last year, Blue Bell built a distribution center in Columbia to serve other South Carolina markets. Blue Bell trucks make direct deliveries to grocery stores and other businesses carrying the ice cream.
The Lowcountry is part of Blue Bell’s marketing plan to serve the South, explained Jim Hayhurst, Blue Bell’s advertising manager.
“The South is full of people who love ice cream,” he said. Among the more popular of Blue Bell’s 45 ice cream flavors are Carolina Cobbler, Banana Pudding, Banana Split and Lemon Ice Box Pie, he added.
The company’s best-selling flavor is Homemade Vanilla, developed in 1969 to taste as close as possible to hand-cranked ice cream.
In Texas, Blue Bell holds a 65% market share of ice cream sold in supermarkets in Houston, 68% in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and 39% in San Antonio, according to ACNielsen’s Jan. 7 data.
The company has a 47% ice cream market share in the Oklahoma City-Tulsa area of Oklahoma and a 35% share in Birmingham, Ala.
When Blue Bell entered the Jacksonville, Fla., market in 2001, ice cream consumption in that market increased 12%, the highest growth rate of any market in the country, the company claimed.
“Blue Bell Ice Cream has had an enthusiastic reception throughout Texas and across the South,” said Melvin Ziegenbein, Blue Bell’s vice president of sales and marketing. “After many requests from consumers and grocery store managers, we are delighted to be able to bring Blue Bell to the Charleston area.”
Other states where Blue Bell Ice Cream is sold are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Blue Bell Creameries, which produces the ice cream, was founded in 1907 as The Brenham Creamery Co. The company produces some 250 products, including yogurts, sherbets, frozen snacks and other treats.
Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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