Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are so synchronised that they were born only four days apart in Brooklyn, New York in 1951.
Together they have charmed the taste buds off ice-cream lovers across the globe with their frivolous flavours and set a moral example to the business world with their socially aware work practices.
Childhood chums Ben and Jerry tried a number of jobs after high school; Ben was an ER room clerk, cab driver and pottery and craft teacher, while Jerry tried his hand at being a lab technician, before they decided to indulge their mutual passion for ice-cream by founding Ben and Jerry’s Homemade Inc in Vermont, USA in 1978.
They rapidly became renowned for their inspired recipes and goodwill to the community. The ‘Free Cone Day’ that marked the store’s first anniversary is still an annual event, and marketing strategies such as the ‘Cow Mobile’ – which they drove across the States, dishing out free scoops to passers-by – contributed to soaring profits and their achievement of ‘US Small Business of the Year’ in 1988.
Their franchises spread rapidly across the US – despite legal wrangles with spooked rival Haagen Dazs – and eccentrically-named flavours such as Cherry Garcia (named after the Grateful Dead singer), Choc Fudge Brownie and Caramel Chew-Chew became world famous as Europe embraced the Ben and Jerry way.
In 1985 the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation was set up with a gift from the duo to fund community projects with 7.5% of the company’s pre-tax profits. They also set up ‘1% for Peace’, a non-profit making initiative that aimed to redirect 1% of the National Defense Budget into peace-promoting activities. This has grown into their Businesses for Social Responsibility group, which has offices in New York and San Francisco.
Despite professing a reluctance to do so, the pair sold the company to Unilever in 1999. The money offered was so great that responsibility to shareholders trumped all else.
A sad denouement to their involvement, but at least with the sale proceeds and extra time on their hands they could still help address the world’s burning issues. And if the problem that might literally burn us – global warming – escalates despite their best efforts, then Earth’s inhabitants will at least be able to cool down with a Chunky Monkey ice-cream.
