The Le Mars family whose dairy made their town the “Ice Cream Capital of the World.”
Fred H. Wells started a home milk-delivery route in Le Mars, Iowa, in 1913. The family dairy grew into an ice-cream business, and in 1935 a newspaper contest named its flagship brand “Blue Bunny.”
For more than a century the Wells family built the company into the largest family-owned ice-cream maker in the United States, producing more ice cream in Le Mars than anywhere else — earning the town its “Ice Cream Capital of the World” title.
Blue Bunny made a small northwest-Iowa town famous, and the Wells family kept its headquarters and biggest plant in Le Mars for over a century. The town celebrates its heritage with an ice-cream days festival and a giant sundae landmark.
In 2022 the family sold the company to the Ferrero Group, ending more than a century of family ownership while keeping operations in Le Mars.
The Wells family is based in Le Mars, Iowa. Grew into the largest family-owned U.S. ice-cream maker; sold to Ferrero in 2022
1913.
Fred H. Wells — founded the family milk route (1913)
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