BLUE BELL CREAMERIES Bush's favorite ranks third in ice cream sales

The ice cream maker regularly ships its product to Camp David.
BRENHAM, Texas (AP) -- Most Americans haven't heard of the Texas ice cream that often satisfies President Bush's sweet tooth. But the family that runs the "little creamery in Brenham" doesn't consider that a bad thing.
"That allows us to focus on making and selling ice cream," says Blue Bell Creameries' CEO Paul Kruse. "I think everybody here would like to see it grow as we have grown -- in a measured way."
Fans in 14 mostly Southern states have made Blue Bell ice cream the nation's No. 3 selling brand of packaged ice cream, behind No. 1 Dreyer's and Edy's and No. 2 Breyer's.
Among the Blue Bell loyalists are the first family. Kruse says the creamery regularly ships vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to Camp David.
Dignitaries' delight
The dinner menu for Russian President Vladimir Putin's November 2001 visit to Bush's Texas ranch ended with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on pecan pie. The menu for Mexican President Vicente Fox's visit in March included the same flavor on apple cake.
Kruse, a former lawyer, is the third generation of Kruses to lead Blue Bell, based about 60 miles west of Houston. He intends to stay the course set by his dad, uncle and grandfather -- grow methodically and give customers what they want.
The company, named after a purple flower with bell-shaped blooms, also aims to remain private and to amiably fend off repeated buyout offers, said Howard Kruse, Paul Kruse's colorful 73-year-old uncle who handed the CEO reins to his nephew in May. Forty percent of the company's stock is owned by some of its 2,700 employees.
"We have not considered going public," said the elder Kruse, who shepherded much of Blue Bell's growth outside of Texas. "We've had tremendous success in the past. Why go public?"
Blue Bell's secret leading to more than $300 million in annual sales lies with consumers who make it the top-selling brand in its major regional markets. Many of them remember it in their freezers at home when they were children.
The ice cream is sold in most of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, most of Florida, and parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas and New Mexico.
The company constantly experiments with new flavors, but not all new flavors are winners. Some bombs include dill pickle-flavored and the "Purple Fink," a raspberry-flavored purple bar. Blue Bell has developed a low-carb version, too.
Sweet addiction
Former Californian Monica Collins got hooked on Blue Bell during frequent trips to Texas to visit relatives. She tried to get her family to ship it to her in Los Angeles, but it never seemed to work. After moving to Houston last year, she can get her fix on a regular basis.
"When I moved here, I was just a lush with the ice cream," she said. "I don't know what it is, but they got me. I'm in heaven now," she said as she picked up some mini-rainbow pops for her children at a Houston grocery store.
Blue Bell began as the Brenham Creamery, churning out butter nearly a century ago. It was named after the flower in 1930.
In 1969, Blue Bell began selling the product based on two years of Howard Kruse's dogged determination to find the perfect combination of milk, cream, sweeteners and flavor for what became "Homemade Vanilla" -- the company's top seller and the Kruse family's favorite.
Howard Kruse still gets ribbed for calling it homemade when the creamery can churn out 30,000 gallons per day.
"It is homemade," he insists. "It's homemade here."