In North Texas, Blue Bell fans sing the summertime blues

A trip to the Fort Worth Zoo on a hot summer day usually includes a cone filled with Blue Bell from the zoo’s ice cream parlor.

But not this summer.

2015 will go down for Texans as the summer without Blue Bell.

The Brenham-based ice cream maker’s products have been off shelves since an April recall, leaving Texans scrambling for a substitute, whether at home, ice cream shops or places such as Globe Life Park in Arlington and the Fort Worth Zoo.

INTERACTIVE: Fort Worth Frozen Favorites

On a visit to the zoo on Wednesday, when temperatures flirted with 100 degrees, the Ponce family from Lubbock munched on vanilla, butter pecan and cookies-n-cream ice cream. And while they said the ice cream was a great way to beat the heat, nothing compares to Blue Bell.

“You have to try new stuff when you’d rather have comfort food and that’s Blue Bell,” said John Ponce. His wife, Veronica, said the family only bought Blue Bell ice cream before and has now settled for Wal-Mart’s Great Value brand.

In April, Blue Bell recalled all of its ice cream and frozen treats after its products were linked to several cases of listeriosis that caused three deaths. The company shut down its ice cream plants in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, laid off 1,450 workers and furloughed another 1,400.

Last week, when it was unclear if Blue Bell would survive, the company announced that Fort Worth billionaire Sid Bass had made a significant investment in the company to help it restart production. Bass has reportedly given the creamery a $125 million loan and has options to buy up to one-third of Blue Bell when the loan matures in 2018.

Blue Bell has started ice cream production trial runs at its Alabama plant.

Irving resident Mahera Talat brought her girls, Isra and Ismah, strawberry and vanilla ice cream cones while checking out the Texas Wild! exhibit at the zoo. While she isn’t a die-hard Blue Bell fan, she does miss purchasing the small chocolate ice cream cups.

“I used to get the single cups because that way I didn’t have to scoop the ice cream out of the container,” Talat said, eating a cone filled with cookies-n-cream.

Blue Bell’s backups

When the zoo built its Texas Wild! exhibit in 2001, it chose Blue Bell as its exclusive ice-cream provider. But for now, zoo visitors are greeted by a sign in the ice cream parlor saying that Blue Bell is not available; they are served Southwest ice cream instead.

“We quickly became the largest Blue Bell scooper in Fort Worth and we look forward to the day where our guests can enjoy the classic Texas treat once again,” zoo spokeswoman Avery Elander said.

On Thursday, Blue Bell announced on Twitter that it began testing ice-cream-making machines at its facility in Sylacauga, Ala. But the company has yet to set a date on when the public will be able to buy the familiar half-gallon containers filled with such delights as Homemade Vanilla and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

It’s unlikely that Blue Bell ice cream will be available to consumers this summer.

Plano resident Al Masters, a fan of Moo-llennium Crunch, plans to stand in line at his local Kroger the day that Blue Bell ice cream is back on the shelves.

“The day that Blue Bell becomes widely available it probably is going to be a hectic day around the store,” Masters said. “But you bet. I’ll be there.”

Kroger spokesman Gary Huddleston said ice cream sales are huge during the three months of summer and to fill the empty freezer shelves, it has added some Dreyer’s products and more of its Private Selection premium ice cream brand that Kroger produces at a creamery in Indianapolis.

But that doesn’t mean Kroger won’t clear some shelves for Blue Bell to return.

“We would definitely make space for Blue Bell when they do come back, depending on what flavors and products they produce,” Huddleston said.

Excited for its return

Mansfield resident Jennifer Horn had planned to eat lots of Blue Bell this summer to survive the heat while she is pregnant.

“I’ve settled for Braum’s and then I got some Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey,” Horn said, instead of her usual Blue Bell Cookies ’n Cream. “I’ll be excited for it when it comes back.”

To further satisfy her ice cream craving, Horn visited Sweet Sammies in Fort Worth last week to munch on a cookie ice cream sandwich. The store in the West 7th corridor used to exclusively carry Blue Bell for its signature menu item — two cookies with a scoop of ice cream squished in the middle.

That all changed with a late night call from Blue Bell in April. The next morning, Blue Bell picked up the recalled ice cream leaving Sweet Sammies searching for another ice cream provider, said store manager Griffin Gurley.

For the next two weeks, store employees went to a restaurant wholesale supply company to pick up gallons of ice cream. But there were only five flavors available and Sweet Sammies usually offered at least a dozen. Some customers noticed the difference but understand why the store has different ice cream flavors.

The store now uses distributor Ben E. Keith to provide Blue Bunny ice cream to Sweet Sammies, which is good, but not the same, Griffin said.

“It just makes our sandwiches that much better with Blue Bell in it,” Griffin said.

This report includes material from The Associated Press.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 11:23 AM with the headline "In North Texas, Blue Bell fans sing the summertime blues."