In 1978, With a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State and a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed), Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened their first ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Today, Ben & Jerrys produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using high-quality ingredients including milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone rBGH. Ben and Jerrys products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerrys Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerrys overall mission is to make the best product they can, be economically sustainable, and at the same time, create positive social change specifically to advance new models of economic justice that are both sustainable and replicable. But actions speak louder than words. In 1989, Ben & Jerry's made a stand 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. In 1990 eight million Ben & Jerry's pints carried a "Support Farm Aid" message as part of the grassroots efforts of Farm Aid. In 1992, Ben & Jerry's joined in a cooperative campaign with the national non-profit, Children's Defense Fund; the campaign goal was to bring children's basic needs to the top of the national agenda. Over 70,000 postcards were sent to Congress concerning kids and other national issues. Ben & Jerrys was one of the first companies in the world to place a social mission in equal importance to its product and economic missions. Since then, the movement has grown and now has a unifying set of principles and criteria on which to evaluate socially responsible businesses, its called the B Corp movement (or Benefit Corporation movement). Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. The B-Impact score is much like a balanced scorecard, addressing 4 domains:
Governance
Workers
Environment
Community
In August of 2000, mega-giant corporation Unilever bought Ben & Jerrys. Through a unique acquisition agreement, an independent Board of Directors was created to provide leadership focused on preserving and expanding Ben & Jerry's social mission, brand integrity, and product quality. Read through these questions and discuss them with your classmates.
Questions for discussion:
1. What kind of responsibility center do you think Ben & Jerrys represents for Unilever? 2. What do you think would happen if Unilever began to implement performance measures for Ben & Jerrys that focus more on profits and less on social mission? 3. How does Ben & Jerrys B-Impact statement compare to other companies?
