In 1978, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. was established in Vermont, Burlington. According to Material Handling Management (2008), Ben & Jerry’s operate with “more than 650 employees in three facilities, all in Vermont – South Burlington, Waterbury and St. Albans. Corporate offices are located at South Burlington site.” Ben & Jerry’s hold ‘Free Cone Day: free scoops of Ben & Jerry’s’ once a year to mark its annual anniversaries nationwide. Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is founded in 1985 to offer funding to community-oriented schemes. The board of directors of the company “commits 7.5% of the company’s annual pretax profits to philanthropy.” (http://www.benandjerrysfoundation.org/who-we-are.html) Ben & Jerry’s donation through Ben & Jerry’s Foundation to non-profit organizations is appreciated and awarded with the Corporate Giving Award from the Council on Economic Priorities in New York City in 1988. “The Foundation awards about $1.8 million annually to eligible organizations across the country and in Vermont.” (http://www.benandjerrysfoundation.org/what-we-do.html) In 2000, Unilever, giant food company, bought and hold the ownership of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream manufacturer. Ben & Jerry’s support Fair Trade and have wide range of Fair Trade Certified ice-cream flavours. According to Dairy Industries International (2010), Unilever, current owner of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream maker, “wants every ingredient used in all its ice creams sourced as Fairtrade certified by 2013.” Fair Trade certification ensures that suppliers receive a fair amount for their efforts that can support their further investments. According to Reynolds (2010), Ben & Jerry’s achieved sales worth of £50.9m in 2009.
Focus of this report
This report will focus on how Ben & Jerry’s attempts to improve its St. Albans production plant equipments and overall process. It will focus on an issue of Ben & Jerry’s response to production plant due to harsh conditions and high