The total product recall of Blue Bell Creameries will likely have an impact on ice cream sales in Baton Rouge, a market where the Texas-based creamery enjoys an estimated market share of at least 60%.
Though local retailers say they’re supportive of the company and know they will be reimbursed for the gallons of ice cream and boxes of novelty desserts now going to waste in their freezers, industry experts say the disruption in the supply chain will be a big deal with a trickle-down effect.
“Large-scale recalls like this impact retail sales significantly,” says Associated Grocers Executive Vice President Emile Breaux, who takes over as president of the Baton Rouge-based wholesaler in June. “Blue Bell represents a large portion of ice cream sales in this region. When that much demand shifts into alternative products, it throws off buying forecasts and creates out-of-stock conditions on the alternative items.”
Blue Bell announced Monday a voluntary recall of all its products after two samples of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream tested positive for listeriosis. The recall extends to retail outlets in 16 states, including Louisiana.
Blue Bell delivers directly to retailers so Associated Grocers does not handle the products per se. However, Breaux is a veteran of the local supermarket industry and has seen such recalls before. He says manufacturers of competing ice cream products will be vying for raw materials as they seek to fill the sales gap. At the same time, Blue Bell will need significant raw materials to get back in business, creating further supply chain issues.
“It is a vicious cycle until supplies equalize once again with demand,” he says. “It will take quite a while for the ice cream category to recover from this event.”
Local retailers such as Bet R Supermarket owner Cliff Boulden says the recall is little more than an inconvenience for his Perkins Road grocery store. Boulden spoke with his Blue Bell representative earlier this morning, who told him the store—like others in the market—would be reimbursed for all its unsold inventory. It will take about a week, however, before Blue Bell’s delivery trucks make their way around the city to collect the recalled product. In the meantime, Boulden will cover the freezers in his store that contain Blue Bell, which is more than half of those in the store.
—Stephanie Riegel
