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grania: “What I’d love to find is an ice cream that only uses pure food ingredients, sweetened by granulated sugar, and uses organic milk for no added antibiotics.

Does that even exist in the US? “

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Texas’ Blue Bell ice cream factory:

The board of directors hired E.F. Kruse, a 23-year-old former schoolteacher, to take over the company on April 1, 1919. Kruse refused to accept a salary for his first few months in the position so that the company would not be placed in further debt.[3] Under his leadership, the company expanded its production of ice cream to the local area and soon became profitable. At his suggestion, the company was renamed Blue Bell Creameries in 1930 after the Texas Bluebell, a wildflower that is native to Texas, which, like ice cream, thrives in summer.[1][2]

In 2006, annual sales exceeded $400 million.[9]

Blue Bell retains control over all aspects of its business, primarily to ensure quality control and the use of the freshest ingredients available.[6] The Kruses claim “the milk we use is so fresh it was grass only yesterday.”[8] The company uses milk from approximately 60,000 cows each day, and the cream used during each day’s production run is always less than 24 hours old. All production and packaging takes place within Blue Bell facilities, which are able to produce over 100 pints per minute.[8][10] Drivers of delivery vehicles personally stock store shelves so they can ensure it is handled properly.[4]

Blue Bell holds impressive sales figures, being the third best-selling ice cream in the United States, behind Breyers and Edy’s/Dreyer’s, despite being sold in only 23 states.[11]

People living outside the sales area can have the ice cream shipped to them, and former U.S. President George W. Bush often had the ice cream shipped to Camp David during his administration.[14] The astronauts aboard the International Space Station were also treated to Blue Bell in 2006 and 2012 “to help out (the crew’s) happiness quotient.”[15]

Unlike competitors which have reduced their standard containers to 48 fluid ounces (1.42 L), Blue Bell continues to sell true half-gallon (64 fl oz/1.89 L) containers, a fact it mentions prominently in its advertising.[20]

R.W. Apple, Jr., of The New York Times claims that “[w]ith clean, vibrant flavors and a rich, luxuriant consistency achieved despite a butterfat content a little lower than some competitors, it hooks you from the first spoonful. Entirely and blessedly absent are the cloying sweetness, chalky texture, and oily, gummy aftertaste that afflict many mass-manufactured ice creams.” [8]

In 2001, Forbes named Blue Bell the best ice cream in the country.[21]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bell_Creameries