The Story of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Two Real Guys: The Story of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

 

Their $8,000 investment grew to a business worth a hundred million dollars. Along the way, they became known for their sense of humor and their commitment to social concerns. This is the story of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the two real guys behind Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.

 

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield met in junior high school and soon developed a relationship so close that it was almost fraternal. Both candidly describe themselves as fat “nerds” who hated sports but loved to eat ice cream. Ben, who left college without graduating, was a renegade. once, when he was working in a kitchen, his boss ordered him to get rid of his beard. Instead, he simply shaved a thin line down the middle of his chin and declared that he now had sideburns. Not surprisingly, Ben was fired from a series of jobs, although he did do well at mopping floors. His partner, Jerry, managed to complete college, but was rejected by forth medical schools.

 

In 1978, Ben and Jerry decided to start an ice-cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, one of the coldest towns in the United Stages. They completed a mail-order course in ice-cream making for novices and applied for a loan from the Merchant’s Bank. Dressed in suits for the first time in years, their goal was to impress the venerable bankers. After the loan was granted, Ben and Jerry were able to start their business.

 

The next several months they worked day and night changing an abandoned gas station that lacked heating or adequate plumbing into an ice-cream shop. To save money, they lived in a trailer and existed on an ascetic diet of sardines and crackers. In their desire to be frugal, Ben and Jerry paid construction workers with promises of free ice cream for life, instead of with money.

 

From the moment the shop opened, customers knew the ice cream was special. Ben, who lacked a strong sense of taste, had to approve each flavor. Because he could not taste mild things, he dogmatically insisted that the flavors be strong and rich and have lots of crunchy additions. In 1981, Time magazine reported that Ben and Jerry’s ice cream was among the best in the world.

 

Customers also loved the shop’s amicable atmosphere, which featured personalized service, games, and live piano music. In keeping with the company motto, “If it’s not fun, why do it?” Ben and Jerry threw a public festival that included an ice-cream eating contest and an award for the longest unbroken apple peel. An exuberant Jerry, who performed magic tricks, smashed a cinder block on Ben’s stomach and demonstrated his fire-eating abilities.

 

Sales were great, but there was not much profit. Since Ben and Jerry disdained standard business practices, they failed to keep track of their costs. They often supplied too much ice cream on their cones, and lack of adroit scooping meant that they did not serve people quickly enough to make money. Their bookkeeping practices were so capricious that the often crumpled up checks, put them in their pockets, and forgot them. To help produce a profit, Ben and Jerry hired professional management staff and stared to sell ice cream to grocery stores.

 

Despite Ben and Jerry’s need to focus on the business, the fun continued as they created many imaginative and delicious flavors. Two aficionados of the Grateful Dead rock group suggested the ice cream Cherry Garcia, a combination of chocolate and cherry named after the original leader of the group, Jerry Garcia. Ben and Jerry’s rich-tasting New York Super Fudge Chunk combined white and dark chocolate chunks with three kinds of nuts. Their best seller, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, contained raw cookie dough. Publicity also continued to be creative, as when Ben and Jerry crossed the United States in the summer of 1986 in a “Cowmobile” and gave away free ice-cream samples. In 1994, they hired Spike Jones to direct a humorous and campaign for a new “Smooth” ice cream, without chunks.

 

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. continued to grow in size and profits. Despite new affluence, however, Ben and Jerry remained true to their original values. Formality continued to be alien to the company style, for everyone from factory workers to bosses wore jeans, participated in Elves Presley look-alike contests, and received three pints of ice cream per day. As another worker benefit, 5 percent of company profits were distributed to all employees. Since recycling was important to Ben and Jerry, the company bought 200 pigs—one of them named after Ben and another one after Jerry—to eat ice-cream waste. (Unfortunately, the pigs refused to eat mint ice cream.)

 

Ben and Jerry also became famous for their altruism. When they sold their first public stock nationally, they announced a policy of “linked prosperity,” meaning that the company would use profits to support important causes. The announcement turned out to be astute, for their altruism encouraged more people to buy their ice cream. Projects sponsored by Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. have included a New York “partnershop” that funds a drug counseling center and a homeless shelter, efforts to preserve the Brazilian rain forests, and a Mexican cooperative company that supports poor peasants. From 1991 to 1994, the company focused all of its charitable efforts on “Sav-a Child,” a campaign to improve the lives of children. More recently, it has joined a campaign to eliminate land mines. Ben & Jerry’s now employs over 600 people, and its stock is publicly traded. Ben and Jerry retain control and are committed to independence for the company, although others have offered to buy it. Despite the company’s size and fame, its heart remains in the two real guys, Ben and Jerry, who, rich or poor, remain true to their values and to their community.

 

 

Words

 

adroit (adj.) skillful; clever

            adroitness (n.)

            NOTE: The word adroit can refer to quickness of body or mind.

 

affluent (adj.) wealthy; prosperous

            affluence (n.) The hard-working immigrant rose from poverty to affluence.

 

aficionado (n.) fan; admirer; follower

 

alien (adj. n.)   strange; foreign (adj.)

                        a foreigner; a person who is not a citizen (n.)

                        a being from outer space (n.); coming from out space (adj.)

            NOTE: All three meanings have the connotation (or hint) of being unknown or      strange.

            alienate (v.) to make hostile or unfriendly

            alienation (n.) psychological isolation

           

altruistic (adj.) dedicated to the good of others; unselfish

            altruism (n.)

            The minister’s altruism inspired him to run a shelter for abused children.

 

Famous sports figures Dikembe Mutombo and Sammy Sosa have displayed great altruism. Several-time winner of the Defensive Player of the Year award, basketball center Mutombo contributed two million dollars to build a hospital in his hometown of Kinshasa in the Congo. He also supports the Congo’s women’s Olympic basketball team. Mutombo honors the Luba tribe’s tradition of the eldest taking responsibility for the family. Sosa, voted baseball’s Most Valuable Player in 1998, was born to poverty in the Dominican Republic. As a child, he begged a peso to buy his mother a gift; now he has given her three homes. He has built a shopping center, sponsored baseball training, and given computers to his native town San Pedro de Macoris. After Hurricane Georges struck, Sosa led the effort to aid his native land.

 

amicable (adj.) friendly; peaceful

            NOTE: Amicable indicates a friendly, but not very close, relationship.

            amicability (n.) Amicability between the United States and Russia has existed only since the end of the Cold War.

 

ascetic (n.) a person who gives up pleasures and practices self-denial

            (adj.) avoiding or giving up pleasures

            NOTE: (1) Ascetics are often religious people who feel that self-denial and social isolation will bring them closer to God. (2) Be careful! Do not confuse ascetic with aesthetic, which means “beautiful” or “appealing to the senses.” The two words sound almost the same.

 

An ascetic existence can be a source of great moral authority, as the life of the fourteenth Dalai Lama shows. Born into a humble family, Gyalwa Tenzin Gyatso was chosen when he was two years old to be the Dalai Lama, or reincarnation of the Buddha. He assumed leadership of the Tibetan people at sixteen. In 1959, during the brutal invasion of his country by China in which thousands were murdered, he was forced to flee to India. There, living in a small cottage, he rises at 4 A.M. to meditate and ends each day with prayer. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to liberate Tibet without using violence. He often says, “I am a simple Buddhist monk, no more, no less.”

 

astute (adj.) shrewd; having good judgment

            astuteness (n)

            NOTE: An astute person will know what is really important, rather than what people say is important.

 

In his classic How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie’s astute advice is that people should make others feel important and give them honest compliments. Carnegie also feels that positive statements bring about more change in people than do criticisms. He emphasizes that people never see themselves as evil. Even the murderous gangster Al Capone saw himself as a basically good person.

 

candid (adj.)   truthful’ frank; honest in giving opinions

                        not posed or rehearsed

            candor (n.)

 

capricious (adj.) unpredictable; changeable; not based on reason or judgment; fickle

            capriciousness (n.) The capriciousness of a hurricane’s path prevents weather forecasters from predicting exactly where it will hit.

 

Newborns are known for seemingly capricious behavior, crying or refusing to eat for no apparent reason. Are teenagers ready to deal with such behavior? To find out, some high schools are giving students plastic “babies” known as Baby Think-It-Overs. Students must be on call 24 hours a day to care for the seven-pound “babies,” who are programmed to cry. If the caretaker neglects the baby’s needs, the Think-It-Over registers abuse. Being on 24-hour call to a baby’s capricious behavior has convinced some students to delay parenthood.

 

cosmopolitan (adj.) from several parts of the world; international

                                free from local bias; having a world view

            cosmos (n.) universe

 

disdain (v. n.) to scorn; to treat as unworthy (v.)

                        scorn (n.)

            Common Phrase: disdain for

 

dogmatic (adj.) arrogant in belief; opinionated

            dogmatism (n.) The dogmatism of the conservative candidate made many voters support his opponent.

 

exuberant (adj.) very enthusiastic; joyfully energetic

            exuberance (n.)

 

fraternal (adj.) referring to brothers

                          like a brother; very friendly

            fraternize (v.) to socialize

 

The word fraternity comes from frater, the Latin word for “brother.” College fraternities are meant to foster brotherly relationships. Other fraternal organizations seek to foster friendships or associations in a community or a profession. Examples of  these are the Knights of Columbus and the Fraternal Order of Police.

 

frugal (adj.) thrifty; economical; attempting to save money; sparing

            frugality (n.) The parents’ frugality enabled them to save for their son’s college education.

 

gauche (adj.) awkward; lacking in social graces

 

In many languages, words that refer to the right side are positive and words that refer to the left side are negative. I French, à droit means “to the right,” and in both French and English adroit is a positive word meaning “skillful.” Gauche, French for “left,” means “socially awkward” or “clumsy” in English.

 

gullible (adj.)  easily deceived; easily cheated

            gullibility (n.)

 

hypocritical (adj.) giving a false appearance of virtue;

                               saying one thing while doing another

            hypocrisy (n.) hypocrite (n.)

            NOTE: the word hypocrite comes from a Greek word meaning “actor.”

 

Many public officials have been accused of hypocrisy. Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President from 1801 to 1809, wrote the Declaration of Independence, stating that all men had a right to freedom. Yet he owned slaves, and in 1998, genetic testing showed that he probably fathered a son by one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings. Almost 200 years after Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, his namesake, President William Jefferson Clinton, was impeached (but not convicted) on evidence concerning sex. Yet at least two of his accusers were found to have cheated on their wives.

 

intrepid (adj.) fearless; brave

 

novice (n.) beginner; person in a new situation

 

renegade (n.) traitor; deserter; outlaw

 

For centuries, Spain ruled over much of Mexico, Central America, South America, and what became the southwestern United States. As a result, most countries south of the United States are Spanish speaking. In addition, several million people within the United States speak Spanish. Not surprisingly, many Spanish words have entered American English. In Spanish, aficionado means “fan,” in particular, a follower of the popular sport of bullfighting; and renegado means “deserter.” Other examples of Spanish words found in American English are corral, desperado, fiesta, patio, and rodeo.

 

stoic (adj. n.) not affected by pain or pleasure (adj.)

            stoicism (n.) Uncomplaining Russian workers bore the late pay and harsh working conditions with stoicism.

            NOTE: In modern English usage, stoic is usually associated with pain, bad luck, or misfortune.

 

The word stoic refers to an ancient Greek school of philosophical thought founded in 308 B.C.E. The philosopher Zeno taught that, because gods had made the world, it was perfect. Therefore, human beings must accept their fates with expressing sorrow or joy. The word stoic is taken from the covered porch (stoa in Greek) where Zeno taught.

 

venerable (adj.) worthy of great respect because of dignity or age

            NOTE: 1. Venerable often refers to people or things of great age. 2. Do not confuse venerable with vulnerable. (Vulnerable means “easily injured or hurt.”)

            venerate (v.) We venerate the founders of our country.

            veneration (n.) The beautiful Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe shows the veneration of Mexican people for this saint.

 

           

The World of Words

Fifth Edition

by Margaret Richek

     Northeastern Illinois University

Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York