About Us

From a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, to far-off places with names we sometimes mispronounce, the journey that began in 1978 with 2 guys and the ice cream business they built is as legendary as the ice cream is euphoric.

Through The Decades:

1978 Humble Beginnings

1978 Humble Beginnings

With a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State and  a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed), Ben and Jerry open their first  ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont.

1978 Humble Beginnings

1979 Next Step...

1979 Next step

Ben and Jerry celebrate the shop's one-year anniversary – and the customers who made it possible – by holding the first-ever Free Cone Day: free scoops for all, all day long. The annual ice cream give-away continues today in scoop shops around the world.

1979 Next step

1980 Supply & Demand

1980 Supply & Demand

Ben and Jerry rent space in an old spool and bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and begin packing their ice cream in pints. The reason? To distribute to grocery and Mom & Pop stores along the restaurant delivery routes Ben services out of the back of his old VW Squareback wagon.

1980 Supply & Demand

1981 We Want More!

1981 We Want More!

As the news of Ben & Jerry's spreads, more & more people want a lick. So the first franchised scoop shop opens in Shelburne, Vermont.

1981 We Want More!

1982 Pack It Up!

1982 Pack It Up!

The old gas station is demolished to create a parking lot. Just before the wrecking ball is swung, the new Ben & Jerry's on Cherry Street in Burlington is up & scooping.

1982 Pack It Up!

1983 Now That's What I Call a Sundae

1983 Now That's What I Call a Sundae

Ben & Jerry's ice cream is used to build "the world's largest ice cream sundae" in St. Albans, Vermont; the sundae weighs 27,102 pounds.

1983 Now That's What I Call a Sundae

1984 Get a Scoop of the Action

1984 Get a Scoop of the Action

Ben & Jerry's sets a precedent by discovering a little-known clause about stocks and brokering, then establishing a Vermont-only public stock offering to raise money for a new manufacturing plant.

1984 Get a Scoop of the Action

1985 The Heart of the Matter

1985 The Heart of the Matter

The Ben & Jerry's Foundation is established with a gift from Ben and Jerry & 7.5% of the company's annual pre-tax profits to fund community-oriented projects.

1985 The Heart of the Matter

1986 "Like the world's largest baked Alaska"

1986

Ben & Jerry's launches the Cowmobile, a modified mobile home used to distribute free scoops in a unique, cross-country "marketing drive." On the return trip, the Cowmobile burns to the ground outside of Cleveland, Ohio (no one was hurt). Ben said it looked "like the world's largest Baked Alaska."

1986

1987 1987 Very Grateful

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Ben & Jerry's introduces Cherry Garcia® ice cream. Named for Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia at the suggestion of two "DeadHeads" from Portland, Maine, Cherry Garcia® becomes the first ice cream named for a rock legend

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1988 Hail From the Chief

1988 Hail From the Chief

Ben and Jerry are named “U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year” by President Reagan in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. Jerry's one suit comes in handy and, luckily, Ben finds an Italian waiter's jacket to wear.

1988 Hail From the Chief

1989 Artificial Growth Hormone? No in Our Ice Cream!

1989 Artificial Growth Hormone? No in Our Ice Cream!

Ben & Jerry's comes out against Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), based on concern about its adverse economic impact on family farming and public confidence in the wholesomeness of dairy products.

1989 Artificial Growth Hormone? No in Our Ice Cream!

1990 Contented Cows Make the Best Ice Cream

1990 Contented Cows Make the Best Ice Cream

Eight million Ben & Jerry's pints carry a "Support Farm Aid " message as part of the grassroots efforts of Farm Aid, a non-profit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.

1990 Contented Cows Make the Best Ice Cream

1991 A Pint-Sized Legend is Born

1991 A Pint-Sized Legend is Born

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is released in pints after years of research and development. The flavor rockets to the top of the most-popular-in-pints list. Today it still reigns among our all-time flavor hits. (The first-ever batch of the flavor was created in Ben & Jerry’s Burlington scoop shop in 1984, the result of an anonymous note scribbled on the shop's suggestion board.)

1991 A Pint-Sized Legend is Born

1992 Take a Stand for Children

1992 Take a Stand for Children

Ben & Jerry's joins in a cooperative campaign with the national non profit, Children's Defense Fund; the campaign goal is to bring children's basic needs to the top of the national agenda. Over 70,000 postcards are sent to Congress concerning kids and other national issues.

1992 Take a Stand for Children

1993 "The 90's are the 60's Standing on Your Head"

1993

Wavy Gravy leads the pack of new flavors. It's named after the famous 1960's Woodstock Festival personality who is today a one-man non-profit helping kids.

1993

1994 Greetings, Your Majesty

1994 Greetings, Your Majesty

Pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream begin to appear in the United Kingdom.

1994 Greetings, Your Majesty

1995 www.benjerry.com

1995 www.benjerry.com

Hundreds of thousands of cyber-surfers visit the Ben & Jerry's World Wide Web site for virtual licks & voluminous laughs.

1995 www.benjerry.com

1996 No Fat, No Lactose, No Cholesterol

1996 No Fat, No Lactose, No Cholesterol

Ben & Jerry's introduces Sorbets made with pure spring water & the best fruits & flavorings. Doonesberry® Sorbet is named after the popular "Doonesbury®" comic strip character. It has since been sent to the Flavor Graveyard, but other sorbets live on in Scoop Shops.

1996 No Fat, No Lactose, No Cholesterol

1997 Phish Food For People

1997 Phish Food For People

The great music & renowned concert tours of the Vermont-based musical group, Phish®, inspire Phish Food® ice cream.

1997 Phish Food For People

1998 Happy Birthday with a Whole New Look

1998 Happy Birthday with a Whole New Look

Some folks thought our packages were hard to read (& the flavors hard to resist), so after 20 years we dressed up our pints with a fresh new look!

1998 Happy Birthday with a Whole New Look

1999 The Flying Friesian

1999 The Flying Friesian

In the U.K., Ben & Jerry’s launches the Flying Friesian, a raucous tour bus retrofitted for fun, with a focus on fundraising for U.K. kids-in-need network, Childline.

1999 The Flying Friesian

2000 Big Changes

2000 Big Changes

In the U.K., Ben & Jerry’s launches the Flying Friesian, a raucous tour bus retrofitted for fun, with a focus on fundraising for U.K. kids-in-need network, Childline.

2000 Big Changes

2001 We're Making A Movie

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Citizen Cool is a documentary about ordinary folks making an impact in their communities. We celebrate this new release with a flavor inspired by movie treats, Concession Obsession.

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2002 One Sweet Whirled

2002 One Sweet Whirled

It's an ice cream flavor...it's an environmental action website...it's One Sweet Whirled™ and it's all interconnected, as Ben & Jerry's partners with Dave Matthews Band® & SaveOurEnvironment.org in a campaign to help fight global warming.

2002 One Sweet Whirled

2003 Celebrating 25 Years

2003 Celebrating 25 Years

Ben & Jerry's kicks off the year with a birthday bash at our factory in Waterbury VT at the first-ever Winter Fest. Still crazy after 25 years.

2003 Celebrating 25 Years

2004 Rock the Vote!

2004 Rock the Vote!

In an effort to drive voter turnout among young people, Ben & Jerry's partners with Rock the Vote. RTV street teams leverage the long lines of customers on Free Cone Day to register over 11,000 voters – the biggest one-day grassroots registration in Rock the Vote's history.

2004 Rock the Vote!

2005 Drilling is Not the ANsWer

2005 Drilling is Not the ANsWer

To protest proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we construct a 900-pound Baked Alaska with our Fossil Fuel ice cream, shoulder it onto the US Capital lawn and serve it up with the help of Greenpeace and the Alaska Wilderness League.

2005 Drilling is Not the ANsWer

2006 Fair Trade Upgrade

2006 Fair Trade Upgrade

Ben & Jerry's continues to support Fair Trade efforts started with Coffee, Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz in 1996 by adding Vanilla and Chocolate to the line-up. Fair Trade certification guarantees that the farmers who grow the vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans get a fair price for their harvest, enabling them to reinvest in their land and communities.

2006 Fair Trade Upgrade

2007 Truth or Clone-sequences

2007 Truth or Clone-sequences

When the U.S. Food & Drug Administration declared that it believed meat and milk from cloned animals was safe to eat, we were beside ourselves, twice over! To show our disappointment with the FDA's decision – and to urge Americans to speak out against cloning – we send a determined herd of cow-costumed folks to Washington, D.C. for a "Truth or Clone-sequences" demonstration.

2007 Truth or Clone-sequences

2008 The Batch is Back

2008 The Batch is Back

We introduce Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road in recognition of Elton John's first concert in Vermont.

2008 The Batch is Back

2009 Do the World a Flavor

2009 Do the World a Flavor

We hold an international “Do the World a Flavor” contest encouraging people to share their ideas for a Fair Trade flavor. Top contestants visit the Dominican Republic, tour a cocoa co-op, and build a playground for children in the village of Yabon. The winning flavor, Almond Delight, is featured in scoop shops as a Limited Batch in 2010.

2009 Do the World a Flavor

2010 Fair Trade Commitment

2010 Fair Trade Commitment

Ben & Jerry's makes a significant commitment to source Fair Trade ingredients and to support the global Fair Trade movement. We’re in the process of converting our ingredients to Fair Trade globally where we feel we can have the greatest impact on improving the lives of farmers, strengthening their communities and protecting the environment.

2010 Fair Trade Commitment

2011 Occupy!

2011 Occupy!

When protestors in New York City and other places take to the streets under the Occupy Wall Street banner in the fall of 2011 to rally against increasing economic inequality in the United States, high unemployment, mortgage fraud, and too much corporate influence in American politics, Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors issues a direct statement of solidarity, and we show up in Zucotti Park on several occasions to scoop ice cream for Occupiers.

2011 Occupy!

2012 It's Greekin' Good!

2012 It's Greekin' Good!

Ben & Jerry’s gets creative with real Greek yogurt, introducing an epic selection of Greek Frozen Yogurt flavors that are uniquely creamy, boldly loaded with chunks and swirls, and really Greekin' good!

2012 It's Greekin' Good!

2013 GMO? Thanks, but No.

2013 GMO? Thanks, but No,

As the campaign to label food products made with GMO ingredients moves across the states, including Vermont, Ben & Jerry's is proud to stand with the growing consumer movement for transparency and the right to know what’s in our food supply by supporting mandatory GMO labeling legislation. In 2013, we also commit to transitioning all of our ingredients to be fully sourced non-GMO.

2013 GMO? Thanks, but No,

2014 Fans Make Non-Dairy Demands!

2014 Fans Make Non-Dairy Demands!

Our fans have spoken and want a Non-Dairy option, they even went as far as starting a Change.org petition

2014 Fans Make Non-Dairy Demands!

2015 Another Flavor for Fallon...The Tonight Dough!

2015 Another Flavor for Fallon...Ben & Jerry's Dishes the Scoop on The Tonight Dough!

The concoction is caramel and chocolate icecreams with chocolate cookie swirls & gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough & peanut butter cookie dough. If the flavor becomes half as popular as the unflappable Fallon, who was recently dubbed “entertainer of the year,” it may give Ben & Jerry’s other classic combinations a run for their money.

2015 Another Flavor for Fallon...Ben & Jerry's Dishes the Scoop on The Tonight Dough!

2016 You Dared Us to Go Dairyless - and We Did!

2016 You Dared Us to Go Dairyless - and We Did!

Our Non-Dairy flavor creations are made with almond milk, 100% Certified Vegan, and boldly loaded with chunks and swirls. You’ll get Ben & Jerry’s euphoria in every bite. These flavors deliver everything… but the cow. The first Non-Dairy flavors in our line up were: Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chunky Monkey, Coffee Caramel Fudge and P.B. & Cookies.

2016 You Dared Us to Go Dairyless - and We Did!

2017 IT'S BEN & JERRY'S, ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT

2017 IT'S BEN & JERRY'S, ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT

Pint Slices, inspired by the very best part of the pint, give fans a way to enjoy euphoric flavors, chunks and swirls in a round single serving that’s enrobed in a decadent chocolatey coating. It’s a to-go order of ice cream goodness that’s easy to take on the road, and hard to resist.

2017 IT'S BEN & JERRY'S, ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT

2018 Together, Pecan Resist!

2018 Pecan Resist! Alongside all those nutty chunks, this pint packs a powerful message under its lid. Together, we can build a more just and equitable tomrro

Alongside all those nutty chunks, this pint packs a powerful message under its lid. Together, we can build a more just and equitable tomrrow

2018 Pecan Resist! Alongside all those nutty chunks, this pint packs a powerful message under its lid. Together, we can build a more just and equitable tomrro

2019 Justice ReMix'd

2019 Justice ReMix'd

Ben & Jerry's flavor & action campaign supporting reforms that invest in people instead of prisons to deliver justice for all, instead of just for some.

2019 Justice ReMix'd

2021 Change is Brewing!

Ben & Jerry's launches Change is Brewing as part of its ongoing work to advance racial justice, calling for the nation to divest from a broken criminal legal system and invest in services that help communities thrive