Here's Where Walmart Sources Its Great Value Ice Cream

Ice cream has come a long way since its origins in ancient China. Nowadays, in almost any grocery store, you are faced with a dazzling assortment of brands and flavors ... but few are as attainable as Walmart's Great Value brand. Walmart isn't the cheapest grocery store in America (that's Aldi), but it's known for great deals. Accordingly, Walmart's private-label ice cream is mighty affordable, at just $2.97 for a 48-ounce carton. By now, it's no surprise to you that some of the biggest grocery store name brands manufacture private labels on behalf of stores — the company that supplies Costco's Kirkland Signature vanilla ice cream is Humboldt Creamery, for example — and Walmart is no different. According to the company's corporate website, Wells Dairy is the name behind Great Value ice cream.

Based in Le Mars, Iowa, Wells Dairy has been turning fresh milk from nearby Dykstra Farm's cows into ice cream for over 30 years. The cookie mix-ins and Great Value ice cream cones are also baked in Le Mars, at BoDean's Baking Group. You may not have heard of Wells Dairy by name, but you sure know its name-brand output, as the company is the manufacturer of Blue Bunny and Halo Top ice cream, as well as the oh-so-patriotic Bomb Pops. With a pedigree so rooted in the fabric of beloved American frozen treats, is it any wonder that Great Value ice cream earns rave reviews for both quality and value?

In life, you often get what you pay for — but not when it comes to Great Value's frozen treats. When Foodie's sister site, Tasting Table, ranked Walmart ice cream, their reviewer found that some of the best flavors (she especially liked cookies and cream and sea salt caramel!) could easily hold their own against much pricier comers. Nor are our friends over at TT the only fans. Over on the ResetEra forums, a commenter gushed, "Honestly, the Great Value ice cream in the pints can go toe to toe with any name brand. Best generic brand ice cream there is." When BuzzFeed ranked grocery store ice cream brands, they concurred: "Walmart's generic brand, Great Value, strikes again [...] [with] easily one of the cheapest brands available to purchase, all while tasting far better than your standard "budget" ice cream."

Having read the raves about Great Value ice cream, we have mad respect for Wells Dairy's ice cream game. Kudos to Walmart as well for finding a supplier that churns out a quality product (pun fully intended) and keeps customers marveling over the quality-to-price quotient year after year. Ice cream is a dessert that enjoys near-universal appreciation, except maybe for those of us who are lactose intolerant, and when delicious ice cream is available for a fantastic price, we all win.

Static Media owns and operates Foodie and Tasting Table.