8. Giving Back >
8.3 Factory Seconds Program
The Silver Lining
Although we fancy ourselves master ice-cream makers, we do occasionally produce a batch of ice cream that doesn’t meet our highest quality standards — what we like to call a ‘factory second.’ But a pint with too much cherry and not enough Garcia can still be pretty tasty. So we’ve run an innovative program for over 20 years to turn these honest mistakes into funds to support local Vermont service organizations through the Mom-and-Pop stores who carry our ice cream.
Here’s how it works: When we happen to make a batch of factory seconds, we sell them at a deep discount over the first-quality price to selected Mom-and-Pop stores around Vermont. These stores, in turn, pass along a bargain price to customers, and designate a local service organization they’d like to support. For each pint of factory second ice cream sold, Ben & Jerry’s pays 35 cents to the designated organization.
In 2005, we sold 47,120 pints of factory seconds and contributed $16,492 to over 50 organizations through our Factory Seconds program. Recipients included animal shelters, community and recreation centers, and over a dozen local fire departments.