Blue Bell has not said when it will sell its ice cream again in Oklahoma.
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“We are excited to begin producing ice cream in a second facility to better meet the demand of consumers”, Bridges said, “and we are extremely grateful for the incredible patience and loyalty our customers have shown to Blue Bell”.
Blue Bell products are returning to stores slowly but surely, with ice cream returning to the shelves of Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, as well as Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, according to USA Today.
No production has begun, and there is no time frame for when Broken Arrow products will be shipped or delivered to store shelves, Robertson said.
In Brenham, officials expected the Blue Bell layoffs and furloughs to help swell that area’s jobless rate to an estimated 7 percent. “We know how to deal with them to help them find employment, so if that had ever occurred, we would have certainly been in a position to assist, but we’ve not once ever thought there was a question of whether or not Blue Bell would be back here”. While they are manufactured at Blue Bell’s Alabama facility, with the plant at Brenham still closed, there is still no word yet as to when the listeria associated with this place will be cleared.
In July, Blue Bell announced that test production began at its Alabama facility.
The report noted that the company’s plant in Sylacauga, Ala., did not do enough testing, but in general fewer issues were raised in that plant. The creamery had been voluntarily sharing test results with the Alabama Department of Public Health and all tests came back negative for listeria contamination.
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The Texas-based company said production at the Broken Arrow plant will be on a limited basis as the company seeks to confirm that new procedures, facility enhancements, and employee training have been effective. That restriction will last for at least one year.
