#Blue bell ice cream coupon trial

At his suggestion, the company was renamed Blue Bell Creameries in 1930 after Kruse's favorite wildflower the Texas bluebell, which, like ice cream, thrives during the summer.

Under his leadership, the company expanded its production of ice cream to the surrounding Brenham area and soon became profitable. Kruse refused to accept a salary for his first few months in the position so that the company would not be placed in further debt. Kruse, a 23-year-old former schoolteacher, to take over the company on April 1, 1919. īy 1919, the Creamery was in financial trouble and considered closing its doors. In 1911, the creamery began to produce small quantities of ice cream. The company has its roots in the Brenham Creamery Company, which opened in 1907 to purchase excess cream from local dairy farmers and sell butter to people in Brenham, Texas, a town situated approximately 70 miles (110 km) northwest of Houston. History A restored delivery truck at the Brenham creamery. As of 2015, Blue Bell was the #2 selling ice cream manufacturer in the United States. Since 1919, it has been in the hands of the Kruse family. The company's corporate headquarters are located at the 'Little Creamery' in Brenham, Texas. In the mid-20th century, it abandoned butter production and expanded to the entire state of Texas and soon much of the Southern United States. For much of its early history, the company manufactured both ice cream and butter locally. It was founded in 1907 in Brenham, Texas. “Food safety is out highest priority, and we continue to be vigilant every day.Blue Bell Creameries is an American food company that manufactures ice cream. “We have upgraded our production facilities, strengthened employee training and safety procedures, implemented comprehensive, internal and independent testing programs…, and earned the internationally recognized BRCGS safety certification,” a spokesperson added. They believed that Paul Kruse was doing the best he could with the information he had at the time.”īlue Bell Creameries already pleaded guilty in 2020 to distributing listeria-contaminated products and paid close to US$20m in criminal fines and to resolve False Claims Act allegations. The company told DairyReporter that it considered the matter closed for the business, adding that ‘Blue Bell has worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of our ice cream.’ It was clear to a lot of them that Paul Kruse never intended to cheat Blue Bell’s customers out of money.

#Blue bell ice cream coupon trial

The US federal law states that a person guilty of fraud ‘intentionally devised or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money’.Īfter the trial had concluded, Flood told the media : “I want to thank the jurors for all their hard work. The prosecution then argued that Kruse was concerned that customers ‘might run away from all his products’ if they knew of the contamination, which constituted fraud.īut Kruse’s defence attorney, Chris Flood, told the jury that the former CEO couldn’t be guilty of wire fraud, because Blue Bell refunded the money to clients whose ice cream was withdrawn.

Prosecutors however presented an email from a Texas health department official, who wrote that ‘Blue Bell is now hesitant to issue a public recall notice’ as that would ‘not be in their best interest’ and ‘they feel the risk to the public is minimal’ and ‘they are not aware of any illnesses'. The trial also revealed that Kruse was likely working with federal regulators in February as the contamination at Blue Bell’s South Carolina plant was discovered. School and hospital officials also testified that they were only told about ‘machine problems’ as the reason why products were being retrieved. The trial heard last week from Blue Bell’s current president, Richard Dickson, who testified that Kruse had dismissed his suggestion to release a public statement over why ice cream delivered to clients was being withdrawn by delivery drivers. They had become aware of listeria contamination concerns in February. In 2015, Kruse was at the helm of the company and is thought to have been behind the ice cream-maker’s strategy to not publicly recall unsafe products until March. It is unclear whether the prosecution will pursue a new trial against the former C-suite executive. Ten of the 12 jurors had voted ‘not guilty’, which was not enough for a unanimous verdict, resulting in a mistrial. Kruse was being individually tried on five counts of wire fraud and one of conspiracy, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years, over his role in a 2015 listeria outbreak that involved Blue Bell Creameries products. The trial of former Blue Bell Creameries CEO Paul Kruse ended Monday with no unanimous verdict issued by the 12-strong jury.

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