In 2001 Ben & Jerry’s spent $1.8 million with diverse suppliers as compared to $1.5 million in 2000. Total spending for non-ingredient purchases in 2001 was $26,324,766, compared to $33,400,069 in 2000. Of total spending, 6.8% of that went to businesses operated by women and minorities as defined by the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

In 2001 our purchasing department began to use a network of purchasing contacts from various departments as control points to maintain compliance with policies introduced in 2000 to promote spending with diverse suppliers. These policies specify that all purchases for single items over $5,000 which are not covered by an existing contract shall go out for bid and must include at least one diverse supplier in the bid process.

We continued the use of Diversity Information Resources directories to in 2001 assist in sourcing diverse suppliers. We eliminated the bound versions and progressed to an online version, which is accessed via a link from our company Intranet. This was a major improvement in that all employees have access and this version is current year round. These are national directories of minority and women-owned businesses. It is our intention to make this link available to Unilever in 2002.

Ben & Jerry’s spent $119,120,000 for ingredient and supply purchases in 2001. Approximately 51.87% of those purchases were from companies that we view as being aligned with Ben & Jerry’s values. This was an increase from 41.19% in 2000. A list of these suppliers follows:

As a farmer member-owned business, this supplier represents an alternative economic model. The Co-op has supplied all of Ben & Jerry’s milk and cream since 1985. In 2001 the company paid the Co-op a premium of $600,000 to provide milk from cows that they have pledged have not been treated with rBGH, a genetically-engineered growth hormone used to increase milk production.

The Greyston Bakery of Yonkers, New York, is owned by an operating foundation and represents a unique business model. Greyston has been a supplier of brownies to Ben & Jerry’s since 1988. This ingredient is used in our Chocolate Fudge Brownie� ice cream and frozen yogurt, two very popular flavors. The Greyston Bakery is owned by the Greyston Foundation, a nonprofit social service network that operates its bakery to train low-income people for self-sufficiency. In 1998 we began a program to help phase-out the premium we have paid to Greyston. Ben & Jerry’s and Greyston have mutually agreed that the bakery should orient itself to charging market prices for its products in order to be economically viable over time. In 2002 we are addressing actual changes in pricing to begin to bring Greyston into a more competitive model. Greyston decided that in order to become more competitive, they needed a new facility to increase the efficiency and flexibility of their operation. Greyston is now in the process of building a new production facility. We continued in 2001 to provide technical assistance to Greyston in the design of this new plant. This new facility is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2003. We are also working with Greyston to open a cafZ that will function as a PartnerShop in Yonkers

The company continued to source coffee extract from Coffee Enterprises. They source their coffee beans for Ben & Jerry’s from the Oaxaca State in Mexico. In previous years, Aztec Harvest Cooperative was the source for the beans used in Ben & Jerry’s coffee extract. Recently, the Aztec Harvest Cooperative decided to remove themselves from the coffee business. This resulted in some of the members creating a new cooperative called LaTrinidad Cooperative. Coffee Enterprises switched sources to LaTrinidad Cooperative for all of our bean requirements. Their members continue to use organic agricultural methods. While not being Fair Trade Certified, their coffee meets fair trade specification. The only difference being the cost associated with certification.

In conjunction with our vanilla supplier, the Virginia Dare Company, we used a blended vanilla extract that contained vanilla beans from the Savegre River region of Costa Rica. Our supplier purchased all of the crop that this organization was capable of producing. This trading relationship helped to reduce pressure to clear-cut additional forests in this area. In addition, this organization has leveraged their relationship with Ben & Jerry’s to secure additional funds to support community development projects, including a regional health center, acquisition of supplies for schools and infrastructure improvements.

Sensient Flavors, Inc., our supplier of banana puree, purchased the puree from the Borja family business in Ecuador. According to Sensient, Mr. Borja continues to work on transitioning to organic methods and to educate Ecuadorian farmers about sustainable farming methods. Mr. Borja operates a childcare center at his banana processing facility. He offers medical insurance and transportation to his workers and he has established The Water Foundation to increase awareness of environmental issues.

This manufacturer of our pint container sourced all of the paper that we used for our pints from Riverwood International Corporation. Riverwood’s manufacturing process for this paper is entirely free of bleach. Bleaching paper with chlorine releases dioxins into the environment and the EPA has found that dioxins are a known carcinogen.

During 2001 the company was the subject of no recalls, fines or any other quality assurance actions.

In 2001 we continued to make significant improvement in our safety record, which is reflected in our safety statistics. The number of Lost Time Cases was reduced by 25% and the number of Lost Time Days was reduced by 40% in 2001 over 2000, indicating that the number of serious injuries and the severity of the injuries have been significantly reduced. There was a strong focus on safety training and ergonomic improvements.

The company’s overall Injury Incident Rate, is slightly lower than the industry average for the ice cream manufacturing and frozen dessert industry. While the national average increased this year from 11.9 to 13.1 percent, Ben & Jerry’s Injury Incident rate was 11.97 percent.

No safety-related regulatory actions were brought against the company in 2001.