Ben & Jerry’s is a very famous ice-cream brand, founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield and is now a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate. Since it has been bought by Unilever in 2000, this brand dominates the ice-cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet market.
This success can be explained by Ben & Jerry’s strategy, based on two major points: a strong distribution network (franchised shops, large-scale retailing, shops), and an efficient communication strategy (blogs, contests, advertising) which promotes the company’s values.
Indeed, since the very beginning, the brand has always supported specific values based on sustainable development and social policies. The company has always preferred environmentally responsible policies in production such as fair trade and small producers. It has also always tried to improve social well-being, for example, by promoting the return of marginalized people to a regular working environment.
However, the brand supremacy is not absolutely complete. Ben & Jerry’s has to deal with other giants in the ice-cream sector. In the basic ice-cream market, Unilever and Nestle are truly in competition. In the premium sector, Ben & jerry’s has to compete against Häagen-Dazs, within a very specific offer: products are clearly different than the traditional ice-cream offer and are a bit more expensive. Even though the offer is quite specific, Ben & Jerry’s still needs to be attentive to its development in order to keep its place in the ice-cream market.
In order to understand Ben & Jerry’s strategy, we will establish its SWOT. Thus, we will clarify the company’s strengths and weaknesses and also opportunities and threats that Ben & Jerry’s might need to deal with.
Opportunities:
I) Macro environment:
1) Politico-legal environment
There are real governmental actions in favor of the protection of the environment. The politico-legal