Wells Enterprises

Last updated
Wells Enterprises, Inc.
Company type Private
Founded1913;111 years ago (1913)
FounderFred Wells
Headquarters,
Key people
Liam Killeen, CEO [1]
Owner Ferrero SpA
Website WellsEnterprisesInc.com

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 Le Mars, Iowa. It is the maker of Blue Bunny ice cream.

Contents

Wells is the second largest ice cream maker in the United States behind Unilever. [2] Wells produces the Blue Bunny brand, along with 2nd St. Creamery, Bomb Pop 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 and its yogurt business to Grupo Lala. [3] [4]

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. [5]

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. [5]

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. [6] Fay and Fred Wells retired in January 2001, leaving the positions of CEO, president and COO to Fay Wells' sons and the positions of executive vice president and vice president of retail sales to Fred Wells' sons. [7]

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. [6]

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 m2) and its second floor comprising 44,000 square feet (4,100 m2). When D.S Abernethy's company Merritt Foods closed down in 1991, Wells' Dairy bought the business, including Bomb Pops. [8] 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 m2) plant, which in addition to manufacturing includes a 12-story-tall freezer. [6] 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”). [6]

Original flavor Bomb Pop Bomb pop.JPG
Original flavor Bomb Pop

In 2003, an ice cream plant in St. George, Utah was opened to better meet the west coast market. [9] In 2014 Wells announced it would be closing the St. George, UT facility. [10]

In November 2007, Mike Wells was named CEO of Wells. [11] 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. [12] [13] [14]

On 7 December 2022, the company announced its acquisition by Ferrero Group, an Italian confectionery manufacturer. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Mars, Iowa</span> City in Iowa, United States

Le Mars is the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is part of the Sioux City metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrero SpA</span> Italian multinational food corporation

Ferrero International SpA, more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world. Ferrero SpA is a private company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as "one of the world's most secretive firms".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maytag Dairy Farms</span> American manufacturer of blue cheese

Maytag Dairy Farms, based in Newton, Iowa USA, is a manufacturer of blue cheese and other food products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breyers</span> Ice cream brand

Breyers is a brand of ice cream started in 1866 by William A. Breyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braum's</span> American restaurant chain

Braum's Inc. is an American chain of ice cream parlor and fast food restaurants. Based in Oklahoma City, Braum's was founded in 1968 by William Henry "Bill" Braum in Oklahoma City. The company operates over 300 restaurants in 5 states, primarily in the Southern United States, namely the West South Central states of Oklahoma and Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry's Ice Cream</span> American ice cream company

Perry's Ice Cream is an ice cream manufacturer located in Akron, New York. Perry's sells and distributes primarily to New York, Western Pennsylvania, New England, and Northeast Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HP Hood</span> American dairy company

HP Hood LLC is an American dairy company based in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. Hood was founded in 1846 in Derry, New Hampshire, by Harvey Perley Hood. After two years in Derry, Hood took his milk south and established a factory in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Recent company acquisitions by HP Hood have expanded its reach from predominantly New England to the broader United States. Today, the company has an annual sales revenue of about $3.2 billion and more than 3,400 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Foods</span> American food and beverage company

Dean Foods was an American food and beverage company and the largest dairy company in the United States. The company's products included milk, ice cream, dairy products, cheese, juice, and teas. It processed milk in the United States under a number of regional and national brands. Founded in 1925, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2019, and its assets were acquired by several buyers in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd</span> Australian company producing dairy products

Dairy Farmers Pty Ltd, originally established in 1900, whose parent company is Australian-owned Bega Cheese, is distributed mainly in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. The core products sold under Dairy Farmers brand are fresh milk and UHT "long-life" milk, as well as various other dairy snacks. It supplies products to local and international markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Valley Creamery Company</span>

Blue Valley Creamery Company was a company that operated many creameries and milk plants across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fieldbrook Farms</span>

Fieldbrook Farms is the trade name of Fieldbrook Foods Corporation, a $100 million manufacturer of private label ice cream and frozen desserts based out of Dunkirk, New York. In April 2019, Fieldbrook was acquired by Wells Enterprises, the third largest ice cream manufacturer in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnolia (SMC brand)</span> Brand owned by San Miguel Corporation

Magnolia is a food and beverage brand owned by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and used by its various subsidiaries. The brand was commercially established by SMC as an ice cream brand in 1925.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Farms Dairy</span> American Midwestern dairy cooperative

Prairie Farms Dairy is a dairy cooperative founded in Carlinville, Illinois, and now headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. As a dairy cooperative, Prairie Farms receives milk from producers and converts it into many different products, including cheese, butter, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, various dips, yogurt, and fluid milk. Prairie Farms also produces and sells juices, flavored drinks, and pre-made iced tea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crunch (chocolate bar)</span> Chocolate bar

Crunch is a chocolate bar made of milk chocolate and crisped rice. It is produced globally by Nestlé with the exception of the United States, where it is produced under license by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemps (company)</span> American dairy company

Kemps is an American dairy company located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. It has been a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America since being purchased in 2011 from HP Hood LLC. Dairy Farmers of America is based in Kansas City, Missouri, but Kemps continues to be headquartered in St. Louis Park. Products provided by the company include milk, cottage cheese, half and half, egg nog, cream, juices, sour cream, chip dips, ice cream, yogurt and novelties. Most of these products are sold at grocery stores throughout the midwestern United States, but some are available in other parts of the country as well. Kemps currently operates five manufacturing facilities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Flavors</span> American ice cream manufacturer company

House of Flavors is a manufacturer and retailer of ice cream based in Ludington, Michigan. It started as a dairy business as part of a farm operation before 1930. In 1935 the business had become known as Miller's Dairy and started expanding the operation. By the 1940s they processed milk, buttermilk, cottage cheese, and ice cream. In the late 1940s a businessman with a decade of dairy experience moved to Ludington from a city 60 miles south to become a partner of the existing business. He became the general manager and the name was changed to Park Dairy. The milk and butter segments of the business were sold off and the enterprise thereafter concentrated on just making ice cream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juhayna Food Industries</span> Egyptian food company

Juhayna Food Industries is an Egyptian food and drink company established in 1983 and began producing dairy, yogurt, and juice in April 1987 with a capital of £E1.3 million. Juhayna Dairy was merged into Juhayna Food Industries in 2004 to become a company specializing in the production of milk, milk products and juices, in addition to its owning of 5 industrial companies, a company for sales and logistics, and a company for agricultural and animal production. Juhayna Food Industries began its activities in January 1996. It manufactures milk and dairy products. Its licensed capital is £E5 billion and the paid-up capital is £E706,053,811 distributed over 706,053,811 shares with a nominal value of £E1 per share. The company was listed on the stock exchange in May 2010, and it is among the main index companies on the EGX 30.

References

  1. "Leadership".
  2. Dreeszen, Dave (17 April 2019). "Le Mars-based Wells Enterprises vaults to No. 2 ice cream producer in US after buying East Coast maker". Sioux City Journal. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  3. "Wells' Dairy selling milk plant, will focus on ice cream". 20 December 2007.
  4. "Mexican company buys Wells' Omaha yogurt plant". 23 January 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Wells".
  6. 1 2 3 4 "History of Wells' Dairy, Inc. – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  7. "Fay & Fred Wells Retire from Blue Bunny". Dairy Foods. 102 (1): 9. 2001 via Business Source Complete.
  8. Long, Chansi (June 29, 2009). "Ode to the Bomb Pop". LJWorld.
  9. Wells' Dairy to build new plant in Utah - Allbusiness.com - January 2002 [ dead link ]
  10. "Blue Bunny ice cream plant closing its doors".
  11. Dreeszen, Dave (15 November 2007). "Mike Wells becomes CEO at Wells' Dairy". Sioux City Journal.
  12. Copple, Katie (18 March 2018). "Blue Bunny Ice Cream teams up with NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for Helmet of Hope". KMEG. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  13. "Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope grant recipients announced | Hendrick Motorsports". www.hendrickmotorsports.com. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  14. "2018 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope". wellsenterprisesinc.com.
  15. "Wells Enterprises to be acquired by Ferrero Group". 7 December 2022.
  16. "Ferrero Group to acquire Wells Enterprises, maker of ice cream brands Blue Bunny® and Bomb Pop®".