public junior high. They met in gym class because, according to Greenfield, they were the slowest, chubbiest kids in their grade ("Our History")."At first they considered making bagels, but when the necessary equipment turned out to cost more than they could afford, they settled for ice cream instead." Cohen and Greenfield's ideal plan would have been to stay in New York State, however the town that they wanted to settle in, Saratoga Springs, already had an ice cream parlor. Consequently, they came to the realization that there was no way that the towns population could support another ice cream shop. (Aaseng 132) "In 1980, Cohen and Greenfield rented packing and storage space in a former spool-and-bobbin mill and began packaging their ice cream in pints, which they distributed to local grocery stores and restaurants in Cohen's station wagon." "Unfortunately, neither of the young entrepreneurs were very good with money, and they would later admit they had no idea what was going on financially. They actually closed the store one day to pay bills, they put up a sign that read: "We're closed because we're trying to figure out what's going on." (entrepreneur.com) The next time that one eats a pint of Ben & Jerry's look on the back of the cup and you can find the stories and sources of the ingredients and the causes that they are supporting. They turn down milk from cows that are treated with rBGH, and have a zero tolerance policy for genetically modified products. A GMO is a food product that has been genetically modified in a lab in order to build up resistance against weed killers and even dramatically extend the shelf life of a product. Ben & Jerry have confirmed that by the end of the year all of their products will be completely free of any genetically altered products. Fairtrade helps family farmers improve their livelihoods by being fairly paid for their labor and ingredients. In an effort to help contribute to struggling communities, Ben & Jerry's buy their ingredients from small sources such as coffee beans from small farmers in Mexico, or blueberries from a local Native American tribe, and even brownies made from low-income residents in New York City that are being taught cooking skills. The company became successful because of its involvement in charity and community (Bell and Geary). In 1985, The Ben and Jerry's Foundation was born, they started funding non-profit organizations to help socially-responsible causes. The foundation is devoted to promoting non-violent, thoughtful and diplomatic approaches to work toward social change. A new campaign has been promoted in the workplace to encourage employee-focused procedures that will improve the hospitality and the company's connection with its customers to improve ("About Us"). On September 30, 2016 "The High Road Workplace Project: Policy Solutions for a Sustainable Economy," was launched in an effort to bring together private sectors, as well as, the public to broaden incentives that will impel the embracement of business practices and values that will attract and produce supportive employees. "The "10 far-reaching principles" establish a collection of business practices supportive of employees, including providing family-friendly benefits, paying a living and fair wage, and governing fairly and transparently." - The Honest Company Ben & Jerry's precision in ice cream making is remarkable.
For example, each Ben & Jerry's waffle cone has an average of 259 little squares, because the textured surface holds more ice cream in its squares than just a plain, smooth cone can. Each Ben & Jerry's employee gets to bring home three pints of ice cream a day. Ben & Jerry created a graveyard in Vermont where they put over 300 of their failed and discontinued flavors to rest. Ben & Jerry's Headquaters is a dog friendly environment, so, many workers bring their dogs to work with them. There is also a frequently used treehouse and slide at headquarters. By making humanitarianism and "philanthropy fundamental" scomponents of their business morals, they discovered an approach to synthesize profitability with social responsibility. With their newfound way of business they created a new advanced approach to improve employee management, and successfully built one of the most admired and fruitful ice cream domains in the world ("38
Random"). Ben & Jerry's has had many milestones that have molded the company into what it is today. For example, about 15 years ago the company sold out to Unilever for 325 million, however, both founders didn't take away an even amount, Jerry made 9.5 million, and Ben brought home a whopping 41 million. Ben and Jerry spent a summer in 1986 in the "cowmobile" on a cross county trip in an effort to publicize their company by giving away free ice cream. (entrepreneur.com) Then one day, just outside of Cleveland the cowmobile caught fire, luckily no one was injured in this ice cream catastrophe. Ben & Jerry's Canadian stores have started to make ice cream delivery available for their customers. The wait time is around 30 minutes for a freshly made, delicious pint of frozen delight. The company has talked about expanding their delivery services to the U.S. and England (Toronto Res.). Ben & Jerry's has definitely expanded not only the flavors, themselves, but the types of flavors. The company has produced Greek frozen yogurt, as well as, their new vegan ice cream coming out in the spring. Many people around the world have either decided to live a vegan lifestyle, or simply can't have dairy. Well, Ben & Jerry's has heard them loud and clear and decided to perfect four flavors for the vegan life. The ice cream will be made using almond milk as the dairy substitute. The four vegan friendly flavors are P.B. & Cookies, Coffee Caramel Fudge, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Chunky Monkey. It is just a matter of time before the company creates more non-dairy flavors to please the taste buds of everyone (New Vegan Treats)! Ben & Jerry's is truly a fascinating company that genuinely cares about its employees and customers. From fairtrade policies to slides in the office, is a fun loving business who, let's just admit makes some darn good ice cream! Not only is the ice cream delicious, but the annual revenue of the company has risen to nearly 200 million dollars, making it the world's second largest ice cream empire (entrepreneur.com). So now you'll know that next time you take a bite of a Ben & Jerry's frozen delight where it came from, how it started, and how it continues to help many people bring in a good income to support their families and the community.