is set to make its long-awaited comeback to the Denver area.
The Texas-based ice cream maker announced Monday that it plans to re-start distribution to Denver and surrounding cities March 27.
“It has always been our goal to return to Denver, and we believe that we are in a great position to expand our sales territory next year,” vice president of sales and marketing Ricky Dickson said in a statement. “We will have an outstanding variety of flavors and products to offer our fans in Colorado.”
Follow this arrow and you’ll soon find Blue Bell Ice Cream! Thatap right, we’re returning to Denver and the surrounding cities on March 27.
— Blue Bell Ice Cream (@ILoveBlueBell)
It will be the first time Blue Bell products have been available in the Denver metro area since the company pulled all of its products from store shelves nationwide in April 2015 amid a .
Blue Bell has been slowly ramping back up since then, returning to grocery stores market by market starting in late August 2015.
Its recovery hasn’t been without bumps — in September, the company , tied to chocolate chip cookie dough from an outside supplier.
In , company officials said they are “committed to producing safe, high-quality, great-tasting ice cream for you and your family to enjoy, and to maintaining high standards for production processes and cleanliness.”
“All of the enhancements made in our facilities to procedures and equipment, and a ‘test and hold’ procedure where ice cream is not distributed until the production run is tested, are designed to ensure that the ice cream we distribute is safe for consumers to enjoy,” the company said.
Hiring has already begun to re-open Blue Bell’s distribution facility in Centennial, Dickson said.
Store locations have yet to be announced, but cities included in the March expansion include Arvada, Aurora, Berthoud, Boulder, Brighton, Broomfield, Castle Rock, Centennial, Colorado Springs, Commerce City, Denver, Englewood, Evergreen, Federal Heights, Fort Collins, Golden, Greeley, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Lafayette, Lakewood, Littleton, Longmont, Loveland, Monument, Northglenn, Parker, Pueblo, Sherrelwood, Thornton, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, Windsor and Woodland Park, the company said.
Blue Bell will also return to shelves in Cheyenne at the same time.
