Kerry King: Tampa branch manager for Blue Bell Creameries
By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published June 28, 2004
Q. Since entering the Tampa Bay area market in October, how have you carved a niche for Blue Bell ice cream?
Our corporate headquarters is in Brenham, Texas. . . . This was our 40th distribution center, the last of the major markets.
I was working in the Jacksonville market from 2001 on, and it was just phenomenal the amount of phone calls we got from the Orlando and Tampa market asking when Blue Bell would be in this area. As weeks went by, there were four or five phone calls a week. Once we got that, we knew if five are calling, there's 15 to 20 (Blue Bell fans) out there.
We use newspapers, outdoor signs, TV and radio. Once we get into most markets, the majority of our advertising is radio. The best form of advertising is word of mouth, and our feeling is once we get someone to try our product, we have a customer.
My view of our (bay area) market share is that it's at 8 or 9 percent. My projections are to be in the double digits within the next year.
There's a lot of competition among ice cream makers. What makes Blue Bell different?
Our claim to fame is our product. We bring a product that is country fresh. Kind of a humorous part of Blue Bell is we say our milk is so fresh that yesterday it was grass. Literally, the milk will come in one day and it's ice cream the next.
You see our trucks so many places because Blue Bell is a DSD (direct store delivery) product . . . as opposed to a warehouse product. Our trucks go to every store as much as they need to be serviced. From the time the milk comes into our plant in Brenham to the time the ice cream goes onto the shelves, it's never touched by anybody outside of Blue Bell.
Q. How do you angle for high-visibility freezer aisle space in grocery stores?
It all falls in line with our advertising. What we find is the prominent space is not always ours. But as we come into a market and generate interest for our product, our market share does grow and it allows us to display our product in a more prominent area. A lot of it is due to just customer demand.
