BEN & JERRY’S

Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-

Dutch Unilever conglomerate that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream

novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered

in South Burlington, Vermont, United States, with the main factory in Waterbury. It is best

known as an ice cream brand, founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont.

History

With a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed) on 1978, Ben and Jerry opened their

Ben & Jerry's Homemade ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station at the corner of St.

Paul and College Streets in downtown Burlington, Vermont, on May 5.

Ben and Jerry hold their first free summer movie festival, projecting movies on the

outside wall of the old gas station in Burlington.

On 1979, Ben & Jerry's marked its one-year anniversary by holding the first-ever Free

Cone Day: free scoops of Ben & Jerry's for all, all day long. Now an annual celebration at Ben &

Jerry's Scoop Shops nationwide. On 1980, Ben and Jerry rented a space in an old spool and

bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and began packing their ice cream in pints.

Their reason was to distribute to grocery, and Mom & Pop stores along the restaurant delivery

routes Ben serviced out of the back of his old VW Squareback wagon. On the following year,

Ben & Jerry's moved its expanding pint-packing operations from the spool and bobbin mill in
Burlington to Green Mountain Drive in South Burlington, behind a car dealership. The first Ben

& Jerry's franchise opens on Route 7 in Shelburne, Vermont.

On 1983, Ben & Jerry's ice cream used to build "the world's largest ice cream sundae" in

St. Albans, Vermont; the sundae weighed 27,102 pounds. The first Ben & Jerry's out-of-state

franchise was opened in Portland, Maine. Ben & Jerry's pints began to be sold in Boston through

independent ice cream distributors. The next year, Ben & Jerry's set a precedent by discovering a

little-known clause about stocks & brokering, then establishing a Vermont-only public stock

offering to raise money for a new manufacturing facility Häagen-Dazs tried to limit distribution

of Ben & Jerry's in Boston, prompted Ben & Jerry's to file suit against the parent company,

Pillsbury, in its famous "What's the Doughboy Afraid Of?" campaign. Ben & Jerry's had sales

exceeding $4 million, a 120% increase from the previous year.

By the end of year 1985, The Ben & Jerry's Foundation was established with a gift from

Ben and Jerry to fund community-oriented projects; it was then provided with 7.5% of the

company's annual pre-tax profits. Ben & Jerry's had sales exceeding $9 million, an increase of

143% over 1984. Ben & Jerry's launched its "Cowmobile," a modified mobile home used to

distribute free scoops of Ben & Jerry's ice cream in a unique, cross-country "marketing drive" --

driven and served by Ben and Jerry themselves on 1986. The "Cowmobile" burned to the ground

outside of Cleveland four months later, but there were no injuries. Ben said it looked like "the

world's largest baked Alaska."

On 1996, Ben & Jerry's introduced Sorbets! No fat, no lactose, no cholesterol. It was

made with Vermont Pure Spring Water and the best fruits (using organically-grown fruits) and

flavorings, in a flavor lineup headed by Doonesberry™ Sorbet, named after the popular
"Doonesbury" comic strip character. Net sales for 1996: $167,155,000.00, an 8% increase over

1995 sales. Net income totals $3,926,000.00.

In 2006, Ben & Jerry's continued to support Fair Trade adding Vanilla and Chocolate to

the line up of Coffee, Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz. Fair Trade certification guaranteed that the

farmers who grow the vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans get a fair price for their harvest, enabling

them to reinvest in their land and communities.

Organizational Objectives

The organization's goals resonate with its Foundation’s mission to further social justice,

protect the environment or support family farms and local food systems.

Mission Statement

Ben & Jerry’s is founded on and dedicated to a sustainable corporate concept of linked

prosperity. Our mission consists of 3 interrelated parts shown above.

Underlying the mission of Ben & Jerry’s is the determination to seek new and creative

ways of addressing all three parts, while holding a deep respect for individuals inside and outside

the company and for the communities of which they are a part.

We have a progressive, nonpartisan social mission that seeks to meet human needs and

eliminate injustices in our local, national and international communities by integrating these

concerns into our day-to-day business activities. Our focus is on children and families, the

environment and sustainable agriculture on family farms.

 Capitalism and the wealth it produces do not create opportunity for everyone equally. We

recognize that the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than at any time since the
 1920’s. We strive to create economic opportunities for those who have been denied them

and to advance new models of economic justice that are sustainable and replicable.

 By definition, the manufacturing of products creates waste. We strive to minimize our

negative impact on the environment.

 The growing of food is overly reliant on the use of toxic chemicals and other methods

that are unsustainable. We support sustainable and safe methods of food production that

reduce environmental degradation, maintain the productivity of the land over time, and

support the economic viability of family farms and rural communities.

 We seek and support nonviolent ways to achieve peace and justice. We believe

government resources are more productively used in meeting human needs than in building

and maintaining weapons systems.

 We strive to show a deep respect for human beings inside and outside our company and
for the communities in which they live.

Products

Original Ice Cream

Frozen yougurt

Sorbet

No Sugar Added

Novelties
Strengths

 Prestigious, established, successful, global operation, with sales in USA, Europe and

Asia, which is the same with social responsibility and environmentalism. For example, its

products are packed in unbleached cardboard containers.

 Ben & Jerry's also donates a minimum of $1.1 million of pretax profits to

philanthropic causes yearly. The company sponsors PartnerShops, which are Ben & Jerry

outlets independently owned and operated by nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill

Industries. The company is also involved in other good causes, including global warming,

gun control and saving family farms.

 The company sells its colorfully named ice cream, ice-cream novelties, and frozen yogurt

under brand names such as Chunky Monkey, Phish Food, and Cherry Garcia. It also

franchises some 750 Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops worldwide.

 Ben and Jerry's were bought by consumer products manufacturer Unilever in 2000, but

were still able to retain their social responsibility platform and kept both co-founders

closely involved with product development. Their brands complement Unilever's existing

ice cream brands.

 In 2009 Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream flavor was named in a top ten list of

the best ice cream in London.

 In 2007 Ben and Jerry's co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were asked to join

Lance Armstrong in speaking about clean technology and alternative energy at the Ernst

and Young national entrepreneur of the year awards.

  In 2008, their market share was second only Haagen-Dazs who had a 44% market share

while Ben and Jerry's had 36%. This was achieved in spite of a premium price point. The

premium price of the product was supported by a high quality image, and high quality

products.

Distinctive Competencies

The company blends a commitment to provide all natural, high quality ice cream with a

commitment towards social activism and environmental responsibility.