American ice cream enters Cebu market

CEBU, Philippines - Blue Bell Ice Cream, “the best ice cream in the United States,”  is finally in the Philippines.

“Blue Bell Ice Cream is known for value, quality and variety. Cebu was chosen as the first city in the Philippines, and the whole Asia Pacific region in fact, to launch Blue Bell because Visfood Corp. strongly believes in the Cebu market and knows that Cebuanos put a premium on high quality products and value for money, something we know for certain Blue Bell guarantees,”  says Jeff Puno,  president of Visfood Corp., the  distributors of Blue Bell Ice Cream in the Visayas region.

Founded in 1907, Blue Bell Ice Cream is from the little town of Brenham, Texas, a town of about 14,000 people located 70 miles northwest of Houston amidst the rolling hills of Central Texas.  Known as “the Little Creamery in Brenham” to ice cream lovers, it is the number-three selling branded ice cream in the U.S. — despite the fact that it is only sold in 22 states — because the ice cream is so popular in the markets where it is available.

The Blue Bell story  started on a hot summer day when local farmers decided to establish the Brenham Creamery Company and make butter from excess cream brought in by area farmers. A few years later in 1911, the creamery began making ice cream, hand-cranked in a wooden tub filled with ice, and delivering to neighbors by horse and wagon. It was in 1930 that the company changed its name to Blue Bell Creameries after the native Texas bluebell wildflower. Butter was produced until 1958 when Blue Bell began to focus fulltime on making what is known in the United States as “the best ice cream in the country.”  And although Blue Bell is only available in about 26% of the United States’ supermarkets, it ranks as one of the top three, best-selling ice creams in the country.

Blue Bell Ice Cream is proudly made the old-fashioned, traditional way  so it tastes just like it was hand-cranked.  It makes use of the finest milk, cream, sugar and other ingredients money can buy. Then, it mixes in their secret homemade recipe topped off with the special skills and knowledge developed over years.  It has inspired an enviable loyalty among its many devoted fans. Astronauts have carried Blue Bell Ice Cream into space twice. Both Presidents Bush had Blue Bell shipped from Texas to the White House and Kennebunkport. President George W. Bush frequently served Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla to foreign dignitaries visiting his Crawford ranch.

Blue Bell has produced many innovative products over the years, including the original "Cookies 'n Cream," but the most popular flavor of Blue Bell Ice Cream, year after year, is plain and simple Homemade Vanilla, created in 1969, which, fans say, tastes remarkably like the hand-cranked ice cream folks used to make on the porch during long summer evenings.

 In Cebu, Blue Bell Ice Cream is available in pints, half-pints and single-serve snacks at Rustan's Supermarket Ayala, One Pavilion Mall Banawa, Gaisano Country Mall, David's Kitchen, Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort & Spa, BE Resorts, Mooon Café Ayala and I.T. Park, Island and More ATK Mactan, the Blue Bell PH office at Rm 205, TPE Building, Banilad, Cebu City during office hours and every Sunday at the BTC Market located at the Banilad Town Centre Lobby. (FREEMAN)