3. Our Company >
3.2 Ben & Jerry’s Mission
Our Three Part Mission Statement
We have a statement of mission nearly as old as our brand. When people ask, as they often do, how we make our daily decisions and what we mean by “values-led business,” we point to our Mission Statement, the glue that holds things together — campaigns and causes, employee benefits, best practices and business decisions, platforms, position statements and projects of every kind.
Here’s how it reads:
Of course, the Mission Statement doesn’t make good things happen all by itself. Each of us within the Company is accountable for developing products, processes and programs that fit within the framework of this mission and that uphold our Company values. In addition, every employee, every year, commits to at least one personal Social Mission target as a part of his or her Professional Development Plan.
If you would like to read our Mission Statement in depth you can find it here as well.
Since the year 2000, it’s been reasonable to ask how Ben & Jerry’s acquisition by Unilever has affected our ability to deliver on our Company’s Mission Statement, most specifically the Social Mission. While the mix of active projects and initiatives inspired by our Social Mission is constantly changing, our core values remain consistent. To cite a few examples, we are still committed to our partnership with the Vermont family farmers of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery; to reducing our environmental impacts; to paying our employees a livable wage; to using the power of our brand to draw attention to important issues like global warming, federal budget priorities, and the struggle of family farms in America.
In a few areas, however, Social Mission projects have lost some momentum in recent years. Our Values-Led Sourcing program, for example, has not grown as rapidly as we would like. A comprehensive proposal to include Fair Trade ingredients in more Ben & Jerry’s products in 2006 was not seen as economically viable and was pared back in 2006. While we were pleased to add Vanilla and Chocolate to our Coffee Fair Trade flavors, we fell short of additional Fair Trade ingredients for other flavors. We did initiate plans in 2006 to transition to 100% Certified-Humane cage-free eggs, making us one of the first national food manufacturers in the U.S. to do so. Unfortunately, it took prompting from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to point out to us that the conventional source of our eggs did not live up to our mission and values. And while we did respond to the egg revelation with diligence and resolve consistent with what Ben & Jerry’s stands for, we realized that we need to be more aware and on top of issues such as this. As a result, we’ve recommitted ourselves to a proactive program for our Values-Led Sourcing so that it doesn’t drift or stagnate from lack of proper care and attention.
Our workplace and Company culture has been strained by restructuring in the last several years. In a few cases key vacancies went unfilled in 2006 or the work consolidated into the workload of others. The outsourcing of a variety of financial, computer support and human resource services continues to gently tax the time and energy of people within the company.
We believe that in 2006 we made important headway in learning how to operate with our progressive values within the larger, more complex organization of Unilever’s North American Ice Cream (NAIC). Our commitment is to educate Ben & Jerry’s employees and our counterparts in NAIC about our Social Mission and to fully engage in an ongoing, healthy, and vigorous debate about how Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever can work together for shared success and for positive results on the triple-bottom-line of both companies.
We took a grass-roots approach to addressing how to best reenergize the Social Mission throughout the organization. We conducted an unscientific poll of our management and employees to find out what values and actions would bring new life to our Social Mission. We found out that employees wanted to be more involved in planning and carrying out Social Mission initiatives and that our employees bring tremendous knowledge and passion to the process that can enrich our Social Mission. In the end we arrived at an action plan with the goal of reengaging people at all levels of the company through employee-led Social Mission working groups. These groups will develop and execute new and ongoing projects that will strengthen our Social Mission with the ultimate goal to guide us back to a leadership position as a values-led company.
The Social Mission working group action plan will be carried out in 2007. In summary, here’s how it will work: two employee-led workgroups, Fairness and Sustainability, will go through a process of discovery and research during the first half of 2007, with the goal to produce Social Mission proposals to be presented to our senior leadership team (the MOM) by mid 2007 for approval. Following approval by the MOM team, the proposals would enter the production phase during the second half of 2007, with the goal of executing the proposals in the 2008 operational year.
Other Guideposts
While our Mission Statement is the essential document that keeps us all pulling together in the same direction, we also look to two other documents to guide us as we strive to leverage the power of our business to create positive social and environmental impacts.
Our statement on progressive values expands on our Social Mission statement to articulate what we mean when we talk about improving the quality of life in the communities where we have a presence.
Leading with Progressive Values
Across Our Business
We have a progressive, nonpartisan Social Mission that seeks to meet human needs and eliminate injustices in our local, national, and international communities by integrating these concerns into our day-to-day business activities. Our focus is on children and families, the environment and sustainable agriculture on family farms.
- Capitalism and the wealth it produces do not create opportunity for everyone equally. We recognize that the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than at any time since the 1920s. We strive to create economic opportunities for those who have been denied them and to advance new models of economic justice that are sustainable and replicable.
- By definition, the manufacturing of products creates waste. We strive to minimize our negative impact on the environment.
- The growing of food is overly reliant on the use of toxic chemicals and other methods that are unsustainable. We support sustainable and safe methods of food production that reduce environmental degradation, maintain the productivity of the land over time, and support the economic viability of family farms and rural communities.
- We seek and support nonviolent ways to achieve peace and justice. We believe government resources are more productively used in meeting human needs than in building and maintaining weapons systems.
- We strive to show a deep respect for human beings inside and outside our company and for the communities in which they live.
CERES Principles
In 1992, Ben & Jerry’s signed the CERES Principles to acknowledge our responsibility for the environment. The ten aspirational principles guide us in all aspects of our business as responsible stewards of the environment by operating in a manner that protects the earth.
Protection of the Biosphere
We will reduce and make continual progress toward eliminating the release of any substance that may cause environmental damage to the air, water, or the earth or its inhabitants. We will safeguard all habitats affected by our operations and will protect open spaces and wilderness, while preserving biodiversity.
Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
We will make sustainable use of renewable natural resources, such as water, soils and forests. We will conserve nonrenewable natural resources through efficient use and careful planning.
Reduction and Disposal of Wastes
We will reduce and where possible eliminate waste through source reduction and recycling. All waste will be handled and disposed of through safe and responsible methods.
Energy Conservation
We will conserve energy and improve the energy efficiency of our internal operations and of the goods and services we sell. We will make every effort to use environmentally safe and sustainable energy sources.
Risk Reduction
We will strive to minimize the environmental, health and safety risks to our employees and the communities in which we operate through safe technologies, facilities and operating procedures, and by being prepared for emergencies.
Safe Products and Services
We will reduce and where possible eliminate the use, manufacture or sale of products and services that cause environmental damage or health or safety hazards. We will inform our customers of the environmental impacts of our products or services and try to correct unsafe use.
Environmental Restoration
We will promptly and responsibly correct conditions we have caused that endanger health, safety or the environment. To the extent feasible, we will redress injuries we have caused to persons or damage we have caused to the environment and will restore the environment.
Informing the Public
We will inform in a timely manner everyone who may be affected by conditions caused by our company that might endanger health, safety or the environment. We will regularly seek advice and counsel through dialogue with persons in communities near our facilities. We will not take any action against employees for reporting dangerous incidents or conditions to management or to appropriate authorities.
Management Commitment
We will implement these Principles and sustain a process that ensures that the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer are fully informed about pertinent environmental issues and are fully responsible for environmental policy. In selecting our Board of Directors, we will consider demonstrated environmental commitment as a factor.
Audits and Reports
We will conduct an annual self-evaluation of our progress in implementing these Principles. We will support the timely creation of generally accepted environmental audit procedures. We will annually complete the CERES Report, which will be made available to the public.