Freezing in July: Blue Bell Ice Cream's Tampa distribution center

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Summer in Florida can be unbearably hot, but freezer workers at a Tampa distribution center are doing everything they can to stay warm. 

Blue Bell Ice Cream’s Tampa distribution center works year-round to make sure you can find Blue Bell Ice Cream in stores. 

The ice cream is made in Texas and Alabama, but is brought to the Tampa distribution center to be delivered all over the Tampa Bay area. The frozen treat is held in a warehouse sized freezer, where workers have to take extra precaution due to the temperature. 

“Its negative 20 degrees in here, and with the wind chill factor you’re looking at negative 60 degrees,” said one freezer worker. 

Employees are only allowed in the freezer for 30 minutes at a time. They must bundle up, wearing thick pants, a winter coat, and two layers of gloves. 

They pull different orders from drivers of refrigerated trucks, so the ice cream can then be brought to various stores. 

Each truck “can hold, depending on how the driver loads it, anywhere from 3,500 to 4,000 pieces of ice cream."

If you are looking for a certain flavor of Blue Bell Ice Cream, ask your local grocery store to contact the distribution center. If they have it in stock, they will send it to the store.