Blue Bell courts Florida Hispanics.

In honor of National Ice Cream Month, Blue Bell Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor called Cafe con Leche. Blue Bell describes the flavor as "a smooth coffee ice cream with a rich, sweet flavor inspired by the popular beverage." It notes that drink is known as cafe au lait by the French and caffe latte in Italy but that in Spain and Latin America and, most significantly, in the Cuban bastions of Miami it is cafe con leche or sometimes cafebar.

"South Florida offers a variety of distinctive cuisines that have inspired Blue Bell to come up with some new ideas for ice cream flavors just for this region," explains Melvin Ziegenbein, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. "We're hoping the flavor is received as well as the drink it was inspired by, and we may make it available in other markets in the fall. But South Floridians get to have it all to themselves first. You won't even find any in stores in Texas, where Blue Bell is made."

Cafe con Leche is the second flavor developed exclusively for the South Florida market by the Texas-based Blue Bell. The first was Tropical Paradise, a coconut ice cream blended with crushed pineapples, roasted macadamia nuts and a pineapple coconut sauce swirl.

Tropical Paradise was introduced in February 2009 when Blue Bell first entered the South Florida market, opening a 29,000 square-foot distribution center in Minimar to serve markets in Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties, all within about a 100-mile radius of Miami with a total population of approximately six million people. Although Blue Bell only has distribution in parts of 18 states, it is the third largest ice cream company in the U.S. behind Nestle/Dreyers and Unilever.

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