BLUE BELL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS
Blue Bell today announced they will be reducing the size of their work force as they work towards resuming ice cream production.
Blue Bell C.E.O. and President Paul Kruse released the following statement this afternoon:
https://vimeo.com/127962447
Due to the extended timeline required to ensure the highest quality and safety of Blue Bell’s products when the company resumes production, and because supply and distribution will be limited for some time to come, Blue Bell Creameries CEO and President Paul Kruse today announced “the agonizing decision” that the company will have to reduce the size of its work force and take other cost-cutting measures, including furloughs and salary reductions.
“The agonizing decision to lay off hundreds of our great workers and reduce hours and pay for others was the most difficult one I have had to make in my time as Blue Bell’s CEO and President,” Kruse said. “At Blue Bell, our employees are part of our family, and we did everything we could to keep people on our payroll for as long as possible. At the same time, we have an obligation to do what is necessary to bring Blue Bell back and ensure its viability in the future. This is a sad day for all of us at Blue Bell, and for me personally."
The process of cleaning and improving Blue Bell’s four production plants is going to take longer than the company initially anticipated, especially at the main plant in Brenham where major repairs and equipment replacements are expected. There is no firm timeline for when Blue Bell will begin producing ice cream again. When production resumes, it will be limited and phased in over time.
Kruse said the employee actions affect three groups:
- Employees who are essential to ongoing operations and cleaning and repair efforts will continue to work but have their pay reduced.
- A second group of employees will be placed on partially paid furlough. They will be paid a substantial portion of their current pay, with the expectation that they will return to work as production resumes.
- Because there is not a clear timeline for when production will resume, and because supply and distribution will be limited when it does, a third group of employees will be laid off.
Approximately 1,400 employees will be furloughed, and approximately 750 full-time and 700 part-time employees – or 37 percent of the total Blue Bell workforce of 3,900 – will be laid off, Kruse said.
Blue Bell also made the difficult decision to suspend operations and lay off employees at the following distribution centers: Phoenix (2 branches) and Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas; Louisville, Kentucky; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Las Vegas, Nevada; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; and, Richmond, Virginia.
These decisions were based on the ability to service those locations given the limited production capacity Blue Bell expects when it resumes operations. Distribution centers typically service a 75 mile radius.
Blue Bell executives will be contacting area chambers of commerce to ask for their help for employees who have been laid off, and business owners who may have jobs available are encouraged to contact Blue Bell at 979-830-9831 or atjobs@bluebell.com.
This issue has nothing to do with greed. I am a former Brenahm-ite and am very glad that we can get BB in Louisiana. They provide jobs and opportunities in the states they service. This is simply a case of human error and organizational weaknesses. It happens.
Blue Bell will bounce back and be back in full swing once they fix what is broken. Customers need to support them now and support them when they return.
The truth is; these types of errors happen in many food service industries, this one just happened to be consequential, very consequential.
Blue Bell has done a lot for the city of Brenham and our county for which we are all grateful. Our local economy and many residents will have a rough time until Blue Bell can resume production and sales. They make a great product and I have no problem with sharing this great product with other states. Frankly, I am proud of their product and when visiting family and friends out of state I am proud to say that Brenham is where Blue Bell is made. They all love it as much as we do.
Hope production can begin sooner rather than later….I miss my Blue Bell!
Brenham was not the only location that Blue Bell was being made. As I see it, that was part of the problem.
First off I would like to show my support for Blue Bell and let the people there that we pray for them daily. But I also would like to say that in my opinion this is a “wake Up” call to the Chamber and anyone else who is in charge of recruiting new companies to locate to Brenham. This incident as shown use that our handful of large companies may not always be able to support the people of Brenham. So I think that the people in charge, may want to try and recruit more companies here to Brenham.
Agreed… It is never good to put ones eggs all in the same basket…
I disagree with claims Blue Bell got “greedy” because if they did they’d be in more than 23 states by now.
The FDA didn’t help here because as the findings of listeria in 2013 weren’t in food, the didn’t have to report it to the organization.
If you look at the CDC’s website, there have been about 8 reported outbreaks between 2010-15, and I believe at least 3 in 2013 when some claim to be sickened by Blue Bell.
Now did Blue Bell make a mistake? Yeah and they’re trying to do right. I’m sorry for folks laid off and furloughed (I have had both myself) but that is life. From what I am gleaning here is the factory tried to keep everyone. That doesn’t happen often – case in point the current oil layoffs.
Hopefully the media (outside county) will now be sated getting their news Blue Bell laid off folk and will let the creamery focus on getting on its feet. I believe they will and be stronger than ever.
A ninth one – Sabra hummus – occurred shortly after Blue Bell’s recall but you notice no media looked at them. I found interesting because no deaths, but no outrage that they could have caused illness and death.
I agree about the non media hype for Sabra Hummus. I wonder who is behind all the media that is hounding BB in the first place? I hear that a competitor was trying to get a bigger foothold in the Texas market-could this be why? Just a thought!!
It’s not just that – there is another ice cream that was recalled due to listeria who is dealing with similar cleaning issues such as Blue Bell. That is Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.
They HAVE gotten news, but not nearly the over media hype that Blue Bell has. I don’t know if that has to do with South Carolina, but to me it does bear to question why are some companies who have had listeria scares, outbreaks get treated nearly with kid gloves while Blue Bell itself has been given the iron glove with poison spikes?
Again – Blue Bell made a mistake (particularly the Broken Arrow plant), and are now paying the price. I think they will bounce back and be stronger than ever. That said, I’d say consistency should be maintained on these stories – though our local media has done very well.
GOD BLESS BLUE BELL AND OUR WONDERFUL COMMUNITY OF BRENHAM.
BLUE BELL HAS INDEED BEEN A WONDERFUL, SUPPORTI’VE BUSINESS IN BRENHAM. THEY HAVE ALWAYS GONE OVER AND BEYOND TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY!!
EVERYONE, PLEASE PRAY FOR BLUE BELL AND THER EMPLOYEES! GOD BLESS.
I have worked at bluebell for 20+ years and always thought that they were trying to get to big. Getting to gretty and now going back to the basics and now I have no job!
I think they will be highly motivated to have escaped the other two groups,
and the ESSENTIAL employees will be there because that’s who they are.
i wonder how motivated these ESSENTIAL employees are going to be with their pay cut. just more bad pr for bb
Best of luck to you guys. Hopefully things will be back to normal in no time and you can rehire your staff.
As a local with no axe to grind and no skin in the game, if you were to come out of this as “The Little Creamery in Brenham” with ingredients in and distribution out stopping at the state lines, would that be all bad ? Wouldn’t that eliminate multiple regulatory agencies falling all over themselves trying to get in on the act ? The media frenzy might die down also, since most probably couldn’t find Brenham on a map. You would still have three of the 10 largest cities in the country in your service area. Who knows but maybe it would draw tourism TO Texas just to get Blue Bell products; much like Texans flock to all neighboring states to the casinos.
Everything would be scaled down, but the people of Texas and Brenham would be the ones keeping their jobs, AND our ice cream. “We eat all we can and sell the rest” could be modified to “We keep all we can in Texas, and the rest of you “Come and Get It.”
I agree with everything you said–keep it simple. You just cannot regulate things the same way when you go nationally corporate. There was nothing wrong with the picture before they started to go out of state. I hate to use the “G” word (greed), but it seems to apply in this scenario. And as far as the casinos, you couldn’t be more right-nothing but Texas license plates every time I go….I mean, we can have horse racing (what a joke), and lotto, but not slots and blackjack? Time to rethink things people…keep Texas money in Texas.
Secede…
@Just A Thought
You have the best comment I have read from here and the Houston paper’s Blue Bell article comment section. Hopefully, someone at BB reads it and takes action! Natural ingredients sourced from Texas sounds like an awesome way to rejuvenate the brand.