Wells Enterprises, Inc. is an American food company and is the largest family-owned and managed ice cream manufacturer in the United States, based in
LeMars, Iowa
Le Mars is the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City, Iowa, Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Le Mars is part ...
. It is the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream.
Wells is the second largest ice cream maker in the United States behind
Unilever
Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...
. Wells produces the Blue Bunny brand, along with 2nd St. Creamery,
Bomb Pop
The Bomb Pop is a frozen confection currently manufactured by Wells Enterprises. The original flavor contains cherry, lime, and blue raspberry flavorings. As of 2015, there are nine main Bomb Pop flavors. The current Bomb Pop flavors are Original ...
and several private label brands. In addition, Wells is the licensee for Weight Watchers Ice Cream. In 2007 and 2008, Wells sold its cultured dairy and fluid milk business to
Dean Foods
Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company maintained plants and distributors in the United States. Dean Foods had 66 manufacturing faciliti ...
and its yogurt business to
Grupo Lala
Grupo Lala is a Mexican dairy company, founded in 1949 in Torreón, Coahuila. The company is headquartered in Gómez Palacio, Durango. Together with its acquisition of Dairy Farmers of America subsidiary National Dairy (of which it owns 87.5%) ...
.
History
Fred H. Wells Jr. opened a milk route in 1913 in Le Mars after purchasing a horse, delivery wagon, and a few cans and jars for $250 from local dairy farmer Ray Bowers.
Around 1925, Wells and his sons began manufacturing ice cream and selling it in neighboring Iowa towns: Remsen, Alton and Sioux City. In 1928 Fairmont Ice Cream purchased the ice cream distribution system in Sioux City along with the right to use the Wells name.
In 1935, the Wells family decided to sell ice cream in Sioux City again. Unable to sell their product under their own name "Wells", they decided to hold a “Name That Ice Cream” contest in the Sioux City Journal. A Sioux City man won the $25 cash prize for the winning entry of “Blue Bunny” after noticing how much his son enjoyed the blue bunnies in a department store window at Easter.
After Fred H. Wells, Jr. died in 1954, his sons, Harold, Mike, Roy and Fay, and their cousin Fred D. Wells, son of Harry Cole Wells, ran the family business as a partnership. Meanwhile, new facilities were added in the postwar period. For example, the main part of the company, the North Plant, was built in Le Mars in the 1950s for the manufacture of ice cream products. In 1963, the company constructed its Milk Plant. The family retained ownership and management of the business after it was incorporated under Iowa law in 1977 as Wells' Dairy, Inc.
The newly incorporated business expanded in the 1980s. New corporate offices were added in 1980, and Wells built new facilities for its growing fleet of trucks used to deliver milk around Iowa. In 1983, Wells purchased an Omaha plant and after being remodeled, it processed milk, yogurt and fruit juice.
In the mid-1980s the firm's North Plant in Le Mars was enlarged through the purchase of five adjacent lots. New production lines, a mix department, and a high-rise freezer helped the company double the North Plant's capability. After completion, the expanded plant covered the equivalent of one city block, with the first floor taking up 109,000 square feet (10,100 m
2) and its second floor comprising 44,000 square feet (4,100 m
2). When D.S Abernethy's company Merritt Foods closed down in 1991, Wells' Dairy bought the business, including Bomb Pops. The ice cream had remained largely a regional brand until 1992 when it began an aggressive program to expand nationally. The centerpiece of the expansion is a 900,000-square-foot (84,000 m
2) plant, which in addition to manufacturing includes a 12-story-tall freezer.
The plant is referred to as the “South Ice Cream Plant” because of its physical location on the south side of Le Mars. Operating two ice cream plants in Le Mars, Wells is the world’s largest manufacturer of ice cream in one location (which in turn has prompted Le Mars to claim the title of “Ice Cream Capital of the World”).
![Bomb_pop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Bomb_pop.JPG)
In 2003, an ice cream plant in St. George, Utah was opened to better meet the west coast market. In 2014 Wells announced it would be closing the St. George, UT facility.
In November 2007, Mike Wells was named CEO of Wells. In 2008, Wells Enterprises launched the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope Program in partnership with the Jimmie Johnson Foundation. It allows consumers across the United States to nominate educational charities to receive a $25,000 grant.
In 2009, at a time when due to changed ingredients, some ice creams fell outside the FDA definition of standardized Ice Cream (and started selling "frozen dairy dessert"), Wells' Dairy put a seal that said "Real Ice Cream" on all Blue Bunny products.
On 7 December 2022, the company announced its acquisition by
Ferrero Group
Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate produce ...
, an Italian manufacturer with headquarters in
Alba, Italy
Alba ( pms, label=Piedmontese, Arba; la, Alba Pompeia) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, Italy, in the Province of Cuneo. It is one of the main cities in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and M ...
.
[https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/22/12/n29994397/ferrero-group-to-acquire-wells-enterprises-maker-of-ice-cream-brands-blue-bunny-and-bomb-pop] Ferrero Group is best known for producing
Nutella
Nutella (; ; ) is a brand of sweetened hazelnut Cocoa solids, cocoa Spread (food), spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero SpA, Ferrero and was first introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963.
Histor ...
, Kinder products,
Tic Tac
Tic Tac (stylized as "tic tac") is a brand of small, hard mint manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero. They were first produced in 1969 and are now available in a variety of flavours in over 100 countries.
Tic Tacs are usually sold in smal ...
mints, and
Ferrero Rocher
Ferrero Rocher () is a chocolate and hazelnut confectionery, introduced in 1982 and produced by the Italian company Ferrero. Michele Ferrero is credited as the product's creator.
Each Ferrero Rocher ball is covered in foil and placed into a pa ...
chocolates, among others. Ferrero Group's international headquarters are located in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Subsidiaries of Ferrero Group include
Fannie May
Fannie May Confection Brands, Inc. is an American chocolate manufacturer headquartered in Chicago and currently owned by Italian company Ferrero SpA. Fannie May manufactures a broad variety of products including enrobed, barks, caramels, squares, ...
,
Ferrara Candy Company
The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group.
The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...
,
Keebler Company
The Keebler Company is an American cookie and former cracker manufacturer. Founded in 1853, it has produced numerous baked snacks, advertised with the Keebler Elves. Keebler had marketed its brands such as Cheez-It (which have the Sunshine Biscu ...
, and
Thorntons
Thorntons Limited is a British chocolate manufacturer owned by the Italian confectionery company, Ferrero. It was established in 1911 by Joseph William Thornton and his father in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
When Cadbury became part of the M ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Corporate websiteBlue Bunny websiteWeight Watcher Ice Cream website
Announced mergers and acquisitions
Companies based in Iowa
Manufacturing companies established in 1913
Ice cream brands
Privately held companies based in Iowa
1913 establishments in Iowa
Le Mars, Iowa