New Belgium Brewing and Ben & Jerry’s:
October 21, 2015
Sometimes you meet someone and you hit it off right away. You like to have fun + you like to laugh + you share the same values = a friendship is born. That’s how it was for Ben & Jerry’s and New Belgium Brewing Co. Not only do we both love creating and making things that make people happy, we’re also both Certified B Corporations. In fact, Ben & Jerry’s was the first-ever wholly owned subsidiary to gain B Corp certification.
B Corps want to redefine what it means to be a successful business. They ensure fair treatment of their employees, suppliers and communities; they insist on transparency; they care for the environment. Driven by a social conscience as powerful as any product or economic mission, B Corps believe in shared prosperity.
So, yes, Ben & Jerry’s and New Belgium are totally BFF’s. But let's look a little more closely at why this match was meant to be—and at how we’re brewing up plans to do even more good together than we ever could apart.
New Belgium Brewing raises a glass to all the good they do as a certified B Corp. (Photo via New Belgium Brewing)
Social Mission
Way back in 1988, Ben & Jerry’s became one of the first companies in the world to place as much importance on doing good as it did on making a profit. Similarly, New Belgium, which today is 100% employee owned, began developing a social and environmental mission alongside its first batches of beer in 1991.
Community
Both companies give back to their communities through employee community service, charitable giving and targeted support of effective nonprofits and community organizations.
Sustainable Agriculture
New Belgium sources its ingredients (like hops and barley) as close to home as possible, and supports Colorado farms and processing facilities to further reduce their overall carbon footprint. Similarly, we get our milk from local family farms and our eggs from certified cage-free farms. We use Fairtrade Certified, non-GMO sourced ingredients and buy our brownies from fellow certified B Corp, Greyston Bakery.
Environment
Both Ben & Jerry’s and New Belgium have always monitored their impact on the environment, from sourcing and production through packaging and delivery, and are constantly seeking to reduce waste, carbon emissions, and energy and water consumption.
Love
New Belgium’s brewers are passionate about creating the finest, most drinkable craft beers for beer lovers everywhere. Just like our Flavor Gurus, who obsess over every batch of ice cream, every sweet swirl and tantalizing chunk.
Creativity
And neither Gurus nor brewers can stop themselves from dreaming up the next big flavor or brew.
Yum
Oh, yeah. This is a pretty big one: Beer and ice cream are delicious, on their own or together.
Climate Change
Beer and ice cream are also best served cold. Which is another reason we both care so much about fighting climate change. In fact, our partnership was created to benefit Protect Our Winters (POW), an organization started in 2007 by pro snowboarder Jeremy Jones to help mobilize the winter sports community against climate change. (Note: It’s hard to snowboard down a grassy slope.)
Ben & Jerry’s employees march in the People’s Climate March in September 2014.
Partnership
How often do you get to collaborate on a fun project with a good friend for a great cause? We’re super excited to be releasing two new mutually-inspired products: A beer, Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale, and an ice cream flavor, Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale. A tasty portion of the proceeds from sales of each will be going to POW.
Now that we’ve written it all out, it seems like our friendship was always meant to be. Stay tuned for more information about how we’ll be fighting climate change (and saving winter)… in the most delicious way possible.