8. Giving Back >
8.2 Product Donations
Giving It Away
Lots of people think Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is a great excuse for getting together. That’s why we love to donate our ice cream to support the activities of nonprofit organizations around the country. It’s a way we help all kinds of groups celebrate a special event, draw a crowd to raise awareness of an important issue, or advance fundraising efforts.
- In 2005, Ben & Jerry’s donated $206,815 worth of ice cream to various organizations through our Unilever distribution centers around the US and Canada. That includes over 5,500 gallons of ice cream in bulk tubs, 24,500 gallons in pints, and a few thousand of our ‘Wiches and ice cream bars.
- In response to small donation requests, we also gave away 10,349 free pint coupons to support the work of over 750 nonprofits outside the state of Vermont.
- Closer to home, Ben & Jerry’s donated over 1,100 gallons of ice cream to Vermont nonprofits through Vermont’s Finest, our in-state distributor.
- We sponsored over a dozen community events in Vermont in 2005, ranging from a solar power festival to an anti-poverty rally. At most of these events, we rolled out our famous Scoop Truck to dole out free ice cream to anyone willing to stand in line for a few minutes. All together, we donated over 500 gallons of ice cream and hundreds of hours of staff time at community events.
- On top of the Company’s donations, our franchisees in Scoop Shops gave away thousands of gallons of ice cream to support the work of nonprofit organizations in their local markets in 2005. To spur themselves on to even greater heights of generosity and community involvement, franchisees collectively set aside $40,000 to fund a unique Matching Bulk Program that reimburses individual Scoop Shop owners for half of the cost of donated ice cream. Learn more about how franchisees used these product donations to make a difference in their communities.
Unfortunately, we do get many more requests for ice cream than we can possibly honor, but we try our best to share the joy with a fair hand. If you represent a nonprofit organization and would like to make a request for a donation of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, click here .