The long wait is over. In two weeks, Blue Bell ice cream will be available in stores once again after being off the market since April.
"Over the past several months, we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy," Blue Bell's sales and marketing vice president Ricky Dickson said in a press release published on the company's website.
The ice cream will be available starting Aug. 31, but only in select markets because of limited production capacity. The creamery's plants in Brenham, Texas and Broken Arrow, Okla. are still undergoing upgrades. Right now, only the Sylacauga, Ala. plant, which has already been upgraded and checked to prevent contamination, is operational.
The press release said that the Food and Drug Administration and the state health officials in Alabama and Texas have been notified about the company's move for market re-entry.
"This is an exciting time for us as we are back to doing what we love ... making ice cream!" Dickson said.
Blue Bell has devised a marketing plan to re-introduce its products to 15 states in five phases. Phase one will mimic the first distribution the company did when it began, which means the ice cream will be available in Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, and also some areas in Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala.
In phase two, Blue Bell will start distributing ice cream to north central Texas and southern Oklahoma. In phase three, southwest Texas and central Oklahoma will be covered. Phase four will cover most of Texas and southern Louisiana.
In phase five, Blue Bell will distribute its ice cream to all of Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma. Stores in Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida and northern Louisiana will also begin selling the ice cream, as well as some parts in Georgia, Missouri, New Mexico, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, according to Eater.
The company has not specified the dates for phases two to five.
In April, Blue Bell recalled its products nationwide after they were found to be contaminated with Listeria were linked to three deaths in Kansas. It was the company's first ever recall in its 108 years of production, according to another report from Eater.
For more on the Blue Bell recall, check out some of HNGN's past coverage of the outbreak and ensuing recall:
Blue Bell Ice Cream Woes: Listeria Found In Alabama Manufacturing Plant
