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Ben & Jerry's history
Ben & Jerry's company history timeline
In the summer of 1978, Ben & Jerry inaugurated the first of the many creative marketing ploys that would help drive the growth of their company when they held a free summer movie festival, projecting films onto a blank wall of their building.
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.
By 1980, Ben & Jerry had begun selling their ice cream to a number of restaurants in the Burlington area.
In 1981, Ben & Jerry's expanded its pint-packing operations to more spacious quarters behind a car dealership.
Despite its exclusively local operations, Ben & Jerry's first gained national attention in 1981 when Time magazine hailed its products as 'the best ice cream in the world' in a cover story on ice cream.
In 1981, the first Ben & Jerry's franchise scoop shop opened in Shelburne, Vermont.
1982 Pack it Up! The old gas station is demolished to create a parking lot.
The company continued to grow and in 1982, the original Ben & Jerry's scoop shop was demolished to make way for a parking lot.
1982: First out-of-state store opens.
In 1983, for instance, the company took part in the construction of the world's largest ice cream sundae in St Albans, Vermont.
In 1983 they opened more scoop shops and the buck doesn’t stop there.
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.)
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.
By the end of 1984, sales of Ben & Jerry's products had exceeded $4 million, a figure more than twice as large as the previous year's revenues.
In 1984, Ben & Jerry's expanded its South Burlington packing plant.
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: National expansion stepped up.
To promote this and other flavors, as well as the corporate identity, Ben & Jerry's began conducting tours of its Waterbury, Vermont, plant in 1986.
These efforts had pushed company sales to $20 million by the end of 1986, as Ben & Jerry's continued to post a remarkable rate of growth.
In 1986, the company launched the "Cowmobile," a mobile home that Cohen and Greenfield planned to drive across the country and distribute free scoops of ice cream.
In 1986, they hit the road in their “Cowmobile” to hand out free cones across the country and spread the word about their brand.
By the end of 1987, company revenues had increased again, to reach $32 million.
1988: Ben & Jerry's opens first international shops, in Canada and the Caribbean.
In 1988 the company starts a non-profit organization with the aim of redirecting 1% of the national defense budget toward peace-promoting activities instead.
1989 Artificial Growth Hormone? Not 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.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie, brought out in February 1990, used brownies made at a bakery in New York where formerly unemployed and homeless people worked.
In 1990, the company opened a day-care center next to its Waterbury, Vermont, plant.
Sales of the products never exceeded about $9 million, and in December 1991 the line was declared a mistake and phased out.
1991 A Pint-Sized Legend is Born Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is released in pints after years of research and development.
Also that same year, market testing of eight flavors in the frozen yogurt line was started—sales were kicked off in January 1992.
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.
In 1992, the company opened a scoop shop and manufacturing facility in Russia.
Boasting a butterfat content between one and five percent&mdash opposed to the 17 percent butterfat levels in the regular ice cream--Ben & Jerry's yogurt was selling in 13 cities around the United States in 1992.
1994 Greetings, Your Majesty Pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream begin to appear in the United Kingdom.
Ben & Jerry’s posted its first quarterly loss ever at the end of 1994, it slowest season.
Ben & Jerry's posted its first quarterly loss ever at the end of 1994, it slowest season.
The purchase reminded at least one observer of the expensive, disastrous 1994 acquisition of Snapple Beverage by Quaker Oats.
Entrants applied by submitting 100-word essays on why they deserved to be CEO. The company also hired a search firm to look for a new CEO. In 1995, Ben & Jerry's named Robert Holland to the position. It began looking for a new chief executive office (CEO) in 1994, conducting a two-pronged search, which included holding a "Yo! I'm Your CEO" contest.
Serwer, Andrew E. "Ben & Jerry's: Corporate Orge(sic)." Fortune, 10 July 1995.
After less than two years at the helm, Robert Holland resigned as chief executive officer in late 1995.
Early in 1995 Ben and Jerry's set up an international department and began exploring other markets.
1995: Ben Cohen steps aside to let a professional manager take the CEO position.
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.
1996 No Fat, No Lactose, No Cholesterol Ben & Jerry's introduces Sorbets made with pure spring water & the best fruits & flavorings.
Holland resigned as CEO in 1996.
Perry Odak, previously chief operating officer of United States Repeating Arms Co., was hired by Ben & Jerry's in January 1997 to run the company after Holland's departure.
"ben & jerry's homemade inc." moody's investor service, 9 january 1997.
1997 Phish Food For People The great music & renowned concert tours of the Vermont-based musical group, Phish®, inspire Phish Food® ice cream.
Net income totaled $380,000, compared to a net loss of $1.00 million in the first quarter of 1997.
On April 1, 1998, Ben & Jerry's gave actual airline employees a break from their hectic schedules by teaming up with United Airlines and setting up Dilbert-like office cubicles in the airports.
Announces 1998 First Quarter Results." Ben & Jerry's Press Release, 20 April 1998.
The stock market showed the impact in industry stock prices—Friendly stock plunged $5 1/4 points to $15 3/8 per share, while Ben & Jerry's lost $2 3/8 to close at $17.00 per share (June 19, 1998). Investment analysts assigned Ben & Jerry's a "hold" rating for the moment.
Impacting Ben & Jerry's financial ratings in mid-1998 were unprecedented price increases for fresh cream—the key ingredient in ice cream.
In the first quarter of 1998, 14 new products were introduced.
On a basic corporate level, Ben & Jerry's created a more environmentally friendly carton (made of un-bleached paper) for its products—the company is expected to start using it in 1998.
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.
When the company was acquired by Unilever in 1999, many people accused Cohen and Greenfield of "selling out" their ideals to big business.
In April 2000, Unilever announced it was buying Ben & Jerry’s for $326 million in cash.
Finch, Julia, and Jane Martinson, “Unilever Gorges on Ice Cream and Slimming Foods,” Guardian, April 13, 2000.
McLaughlin, Tim, "Interview—Ben & Jerry Co-Founder Threatens to Quit," Reuters News, December 1, 2000.
The company began using unbleached paperboard pint containers and planned to begin outsourcing its frozen novelties in 2000.
2000: Ben & Jerry's acquired by Unilever.
Under his watch, sales had increased 37 percent since 2001 (when they were $237 million) according to Workforce Management, while operating margins tripled.
In 2002, it partnered with the Dave Matthews Band (DMB) and a coalition of environmental organizations to form "One Sweet Whirled," a campaign to fight global warming.
In 2002, Unilever announced plans to greatly expand Ben & Jerry's presence in Europe, including opening seventy-five scoop shops in Spain over the next four or five years.
"Ben & Jerry's Tries Organic Ice Cream," Associated Press Newswires, June 4, 2003.
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.
2004 Rock the Vote! In an effort to drive voter turnout among young people, Ben & Jerry's partners with Rock the Vote.
Yves Couette stepped down from the CEO spot at the end of 2004.
The trade journal Dairy Foods estimated Ben & Jerry's 2004 sales at $272 million, ranking it 53rd in its "Dairy 100" listing.
Phillips, David, "Dairy 100: Bigger by the Billions," Dairyfoods.com, August 1, 2005.
"Former Ben & Jerry's CFO Pleads to Embezzlement," Associated Press Newswires, September 2, 2005.
The winning flavor, Almond Delight, is featured in scoop shops as a Limited Batch in 2010.
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
2018 Moo-phoria offers fan ice cream without compromise with a fraction of the fat and calories.
"Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc. ." Company Profiles for Students. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/economics-magazines/ben-jerrys-homemade-inc
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Ben & Jerry's competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baskin-Robbins | 1945 | $160.0M | 30 | 627 |
| Marble Slab | 1983 | $592.7M | 459 | 3 |
| Perry's Ice Cream | 1918 | $76.0M | 320 | 13 |
| LA Michoacana | 1986 | $4.0M | 25 | 52 |
| Tillamook Ice Creamery | 1909 | $250.0M | 550 | 19 |
| Depot International | - | $2.2M | 75 | 5 |
| Famous Supply | 1933 | $200.0M | 650 | 80 |
| Primo International | - | $8.5M | 150 | - |
| Valentino | 1960 | $213.7M | 3,000 | 11 |
| Pretzels | 1979 | $820,000 | 50 | - |
Ben & Jerry's history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Ben & Jerry's, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Ben & Jerry's. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Ben & Jerry's. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Ben & Jerry's. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Ben & Jerry's and its employees or that of Zippia.
Ben & Jerry's may also be known as or be related to Ben & Jerry s, Ben & Jerry's, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., Ben & Jerry's of Hoboken and Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.