Thursday, February 11, 2021

Blue Bunny / Blue Ribbon Classics Ice Cream

Blue Bunny, and Blue Ribbon Classics, are two ice cream/frozen novelty lines owed by Wells Enterprises.  Wells is the largest family-owned ice cream manufacturer in the US, and third largest US producer (after the NestlĂ© and Unilever conglomerates).  They have a few other product lines as well, including Bomb Pop popsicles, but, the ice cream was certainly the item that caught my eye.

The story goes that they started in 1925 by Fred. H. Wells Jr, a milk route operator, who started making ice cream, but was then bought out 3 years later.  But 7 years after that, he tried again, and let the product get named through a "Name That Ice Cream" contest (so says Wikipedia ...  The more you know!) Anyway, many other family members came along, took over, expanded production, etc, etc.  It was still mostly regional until 1992 when they started expanding nationally, and well, the rest is history?

Now they make a large array of ice cream flavors and treats.  Unlike many "frozen novelties", even the novelty items are made with actual ice cream, not frozen dairy products.  Blue Bunny is the flagship line, and Blue Ribbon Classics is the lower end.  I've tried products from both lines, and, I assure you, the difference is noticeable.

Blue Bunny

"Blue Bunny, the flagship brand of Wells Enterprises, Inc., includes a delicious variety of ice cream, frozen desserts, and frozen novelties, Wells is proud to produce, market, and sell Blue Bunny branded products across the United States in places like your grocer's freezer, your favorite restaurant, your corner convenience store, on ice cream trucks and in event venues. Today more than 400 ice cream treats are produced under the Blue Bunny brand name."
Blue Bunny makes a lot of ice cream products, as, in, >400.  They offer a wide assortment of flavors of ice cream sold in tubs, pints, and personal cups, with fun names, like "Peanut Butter Party" rather than just "Peanut Butter Cup", and also have frozen yogurt, low-fat, and lower sugar options.

The line of novelties is particularly impressive, ranging from a large variety of packaged ice cream cones, ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, all sorts of branded items with gumball eyes (Batman, Tweety, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Powerfuff Girls, Pink Panther, Minions, Bugs Bunny, Bratz), and "Bunny Snacks", which are chocolate coated ice cream bites in a bunch of flavors.

I've only tried a few of their items, but, one in particular I enjoy far more than comparable products from competitors.
Chips Galore! Sandwich. (2016)
"Creamy vanilla flavored ice cream layered between two chocolate chip cookies rolled in mini chocolate chips."

Since I don't really like cookies, I can't say that I was very excited about an ice cream sandwich.  An improvement on just a cookie, for sure, but, not really my dessert nor ice cream of choice.

However, I was visiting another Google office, and they had an ice cream freezer, with rather meager offerings.  This was the best of the bunch, so, I went for it.

My first bite confirmed what I expected.  It wasn't great.  The cookies were soggy, and certainly nothing like homemade.  They were like large size Chips Ahoy.  The ice cream wasn't particularly creamy, nor vanilla-y.  Even when I let it melt, it never got particularly creamy.

But as I ate more, I did like the plentiful little chocolate chips around the outside though, and quickly set about licking all the little chips off.  And then biting a little cookie off.  And them more ice cream.  Before I knew it, I had finished nearly the entire thing, a bit remarkable given its size and the fact that I didn't actually like it very much.

This was a case of the whole being greater than sum of the parts.  Were the cookies good?  No.  Was the ice cream good?  No.  But somehow, it all worked together.

I wouldn't rush out to get another, but, I did enjoy it.

Update: A year or so later, when visiting the same office, I had another.  I think I liked it even more, and this time, the ice cream did seem to melt a bit more nicely.  Now, I'd gladly get another!
Chips Galore! Ice Cream Sandwich. (July 2017).
I was eager to have another one of these, on a hot day (90 degrees!), but, it didn't quite live up.  I'm not sure why.

The cookies were still soft, a bit buttery.  The ice cream was still decent, for a frozen novelty item.  Most shocking to me is that I didn't like the mini chocolate chips on the outside very much.  And that the ice cream didn't seem to melt that nicely, even in the extreme heat.

I had about half of it, and just wasn't into it, so I set it aside (in a bowl), and sat in the sun a while longer.  And then ... I decided to have the rest, but, I used a spoon, and mushed up the cookie into the ice cream, basically making a cookies and cream sort of flavor.  That I did kinda like, strangely.  Mushy cookies in ice cream hit the spot differently.  I can't explain it.
Chips Galore! Ice Cream Sandwich (perfectly melty!) (July 2019).
A couple years later, I gave one another try.  I followed my own advice, letting it get nicely melty, by pulling it out before lunch.  I really do like it this way.

And ... I liked it.  Yes, the cookies were soft and kinda mush.  But they were buttery and sweet, and I liked them like that. The ice cream melted quite nicely.  And I adored the chips again, so many of them, great crunch.

These continue to be better than I expect.
Strawberry Shortcake Bar. (2020)
"Thick strawberry flavored center surrounded with smooth vanilla flavored reduced fat ice cream rolled in cake crunch."

Sometimes, the only item in the ice cream freezer is a strawberry shortcake bar.  Or maybe you actually like these things?  But for me, the only time I'd ever try this was extreme desperation.  I don't like strawberry ice cream, let alone "strawberry flavored center", and the chocolate counterpart to these, the chocolate eclair, was always only a tiny step above.

But, one day, after ... 15? years of not having one, I gave it another try.  The verdict? Meh.  Why?  I know everyone has their own tastes, but I just can't imagine actually wanting this.

The inside was just icy strawberry stuff, the vanilla reduced fat ice cream around it wasn't creamy nor actually vanilla flavored, and the cake crunch ... the most exciting part, but, not particularly flavorful.
Cookies 'N Cream Sandwich. (2020).
"Creamy Cookies 'N Cream ice cream layered between two chocolate flavored cookie wafers."
Another ... meh Blue Bunny item for me.

The cookies were soft, but pretty boring, just, lightly chocolate flavored.  The ice cream was decently creamy, and did have some cookie/cream bits, but, it wasn't particularly notable.

Overall, nothing bad about this, but nothing really good either.

Blue Ribbon Classics

"Wells turns everyday moments into special celebrations with the classic flavors, generous offerings, and surprising value of Blue Ribbon Classics.
Made for family and fun, it’s the ice cream that appeals to everyone."
"At Blue Ribbon Classics, we don’t just make frozen treats. We make days better. Moods brighter. Traditions stronger. Occasions more fun. We make memories to last a lifetime. One delicious, ice creamy bite at a time."
The lower end line made by Wells is "Blue Ribbon Classics".  They too offer ice cream/frozen yogurt/sherbet in tubs, ice cream cones and bars, and popsicles, but have only about 50 products total, and represent more, well, "classics".  No bubble gum eyes, or co-branding, here.

I tried several of these as well, and, it was clear the ice cream quality was lower than Blue Bunny.
Ice Cream Freezer!
Yes, I was of course visiting another office, and found another ice cream freezer.

The first few days I went for the high end Three Twins items, but, eventually, I decided to try the Blue Ribbon classics, mostly for research sake.
Orange Dream Bar. (2016)
"Vanilla flavored reduced fat ice cream in an orange sherbet shell. It's a dream!"

One day, I wanted something less decadent.  In full disclosure, this is because I stumbled upon the ice cream freezer after already having soft serve ice cream at lunch.  And uh, a second soft serve sundae a little later.  So I didn't want to go all out and get another huge ice cream.  Hence, the reasonable choice, the Orange Dream Bar.

Reduced fat ice cream and sherbet made this a pretty light offering, only 90 calories for the bar.  But, they also made it just not very interesting.  The orange sherbet was pretty icy and a very thick layer, and the ice cream wasn't very creamy.

I guess if you like a classic orange creamsicle this was fine, but, I really wanted it to be more like a Pine-Lime Splice, the only "lighter" ice cream novelty I really ever enjoy ...
Vanilla Crunch. (2020).
"Vanilla flavored frozen dairy dessert dipped in chocolate flavored coating and crisp rice. A tasty treat to bring on the go!"

One day I was craving a fairly simple treat, just some vanilla ice cream, a snappy chocolate shell, and a bit of crunch.  The vanilla crunch bar seemed perfect.

I was not thrilled when I opened it, to see the coating.  Where was all the crunch?!
Vanilla Crunch: Other side?
Did the other side have more crunch?  Nope.

Let's just say, in the crunch department, this namesake bar did not deliver.  I didn't really taste the crunch at all.

And the shell?  Thin, not snappy, and not very chocolately.  It added very little.  *+ for the shell, which is, um, generous.
Vanilla Crunch: Inside.
The "vanilla flavored frozen dairy dessert" inside wasn't very creamy, wasn't very vanilla, wasn't very good.

* for the filling, so, uh, a generous *+ overall.
[ No Photo ]
Sundae Cone.

"Creamy vanilla flavored reduced fat ice cream dipped in chocolate flavored coating, topped with peanuts and cone pieces, all inside a crunchy sugar cone. One for everyone!"

Not sure where my photo went of this one, but, there isn't much to say.  It was a pretty standard packaged sundae cone.  No better nor worse than any other.

Update review (June 2017): I had another, at a company picnic.  It was ... well, what it was.  The ice cream was better than average ice cream novelties actually, but wasn't particularly good.  The cone was a generic sugar cone, but at least it wasn't soggy.  The chocolate coating was good, but the nuts actually had a hint of staleness to them.  So, better than average I suppose, but still just a packaged sundae cone.

20 comments:



  1. You have discussed an interesting topic that everybody should know. Very well explained with examples. I have found a similar
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  2. I found the Blue Ribbon Classic ice cream to be too soft and tasteless

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not only do Blue Ribbon and Blue Bunny products contain less "junk" (chemicals, fillers, etc.) than most other brands, but also, as far as I've seen, all of their products that I've encountered are also Kosher! I don't buy ice cream too often these days (trying to avoid all of the sugar) but when I do, BB/BR is virtually the only brand I look for anymore- seems everything else has become garbage these days (Even Breyers- which used to be "Natural Ice Cream" now, since it was bought-out by Unilever [I think] can not even legally label most of their products "ice cream" anymore- and Breyers now tastes sweet, instead of having the wonderful flavor it did years ago. I hope they never do this to BB/BR!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Should the ice cream have a something over it when you open it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Appreciate your review. I wanted to get the chocolate chip cookie dough Blue Ribbon Classics version as other brands in my area were missing this flavor. Thankfully,I read your review.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is your "ice cream" cream or milk?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is your ice cream Halal certified or not

    ReplyDelete
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