1913 founder fred h. wells jr. headquarters le mars iowa united states of america key people mike wells ceo website wellsenterprisesinc.com wells enterprises inc. is an american food company and is the largest family owned and managed ice cream manufacturer in the united states based in lemars iowa . it is the maker of blue bunny ice cream . wells is the third largest ice cream maker in the united states with five percent market share behind nestl dreyer s m venpick and unilever breyers ice cream . 1 wells produces the blue bunny brand along with 2nd st. creamery bomb pop and several private label brands . in addition wells is the licensee for weight watchers ice cream . in 2007 and 2008 wells sold its cultured dairy and fluid milk business to dean foods and its yogurt business to grupo lala . 2 3 history edit fred h. wells jr. opened a milk route in 1913 in le mars after purchasing a horse delivery wagon and a few cans and jars for 250 from local dairy farmer ray bowers . around 1925 wells and his sons began manufacturing ice cream and selling it in neighboring iowa towns remsen alton and sioux city . in 1928 fairmont ice cream purchased the ice cream distribution system in sioux city along with the right to use the wells name . 4 in 1935 the wells family decided to sell ice cream in sioux city again . unable to sell their product under their own name wells they decided to hold a name that ice cream contest in the sioux city journal . a sioux city man won the 25 cash prize for the winning entry of blue bunny after noticing how much his son enjoyed the blue bunnies in a department store window at easter . 4 after fred h. wells jr. died in 1954 his sons harold mike roy and fay and their cousin fred d. wells son of harry cole wells ran the family business as a partnership . meanwhile new facilities were added in the postwar period . for example the main part of the company the north plant was built in le mars in the 1950s for the manufacture of ice cream products . in 1963 the company constructed its milk plant . the family retained ownership and management of the business after it was incorporated under iowa law in 1977 as wells dairy inc. 5 the newly incorporated business expanded in the 1980s . new corporate offices were added in 1980 and wells built new facilities for its growing fleet of trucks used to deliver milk around iowa . in 1983 wells purchased an omaha plant and after being remodeled it processed milk yogurt and fruit juice . 5 in the mid 1980s the firm s north plant in le mars was enlarged through the purchase of five adjacent lots . new production lines a mix department and a high rise freezer helped the company double the north plant s capability . after completion the expanded plant covered the equivalent of one city block with the first floor taking up 109 000 square feet 10 100 m2 and its second floor comprising 44 000 square feet 4 100 m2 . the ice cream remained largely a regional brand until 1992 when it began an aggressive program to expand nationally . the centerpiece of the expansion is a 900 000 square foot 84 000 m2 plant which in addition to manufacturing includes a 12 story tall freezer . 5 the plant is referred to as the south ice cream plant because of its physical location on the south side of le mars . operating two ice cream plants in le mars wells is the world s largest manufacturer of ice cream in one location which in turn has prompted le mars to claim the title of ice cream capital of the world . 5 in 2003 an ice cream plant in st. george utah was opened to better meet the west coast market . 6 in november 2007 mike wells was named ceo of wells . 7 in 2009 at a time when due to changed ingredients some ice creams fell outside the fda definition of standardized ice cream and started selling frozen dairy dessert wells dairy put a seal that said real ice cream on all blue bunny products . 8 references edit ice cream wars nestl vs. unilever business week august 24 2007 wells dairy selling milk plant will focus on ice cream siouxcityjournal.com december 2007 mexican company buys wells omaha yogurt plan le mars daily sentinel january 2008 a b wells dairy history a b c d international directory of company histories vol . 36 . st. james press 2001 via fundinguniverse.com wells dairy to build new plant in utah allbusiness.com january 2002 dead link mike wells becomes ceo at wells dairy siouxcityjournal.com january 2008 blue bunny ice cream real ice cream blue bunny . archived august 16 2011 at the wayback machine . external links edit corporate website blue bunny website weight watcher ice cream website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wells enterprises & oldid 725009154 categories companies based in iowamanufacturing companies established in 1913ice cream brandsprivately held companies based in iowa1913 establishments in iowahidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from february 2016articles with wayback 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