OK, I gladly admit that this post is more a fun post than a discipline post in operations management… Just like the products from Ben & Jerry’s are much more fun than many other manufactured products. Here’s my list of 14 favorites (yes, they are all favorites). Which is yours?
Introduction: B&J
Even if Ben & Jerry’s is much about fun, it is deadly serious about its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The company, founded in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Vermont, has a long-standing record of noble contributions outside of business. Yes, of course, the business itself may profit from such a strategy in the long term, but to become famous for such efforts takes more than just the standard CSR package. Ben & Jerry’s engaged in CSR long before it became a given. It has, over the last 20 years, fought for children’s rights, helped disadvantaged urban youth, fought for gender equality, implemented environment-friendly actions in its supply chain, criticized the move towards genetically engineered animals, and worked for more fair trade.
Their last cry-out is their support for the Occupy Wall Street movement (c.f. my OWS blog post here). If you pay attention to it, you will notice that they, from time to time, even given their new release names that have hidden political and social agendas. Today, Ben & Jerry’s is fully owned by Unilever and managed by my fellow countryman Jostein Solheim. What is it with Norwegians and ice cream; don’t we ever get enough of the cold stuff?
Research method
Well, I don’t. To find my personal favorite, I have undertaken a fun “research project” over the last 4 months. Of course, I went scientifically to work*. To be sure that the final list makes up my rightfully prioritized list, I always kept a “reference pint of ice cream”. I did, however, allow the reference pint to change over the months, which means that once an ice cream had been tested towards a reference pint, it could become the reference pint for the next new ice cream. Elegant, eh?
Tastings were undertaken whenever I fancied some ice cream, which varied from once to four to five times a week. To keep track of my opinions the tasted ice creams were put into the “research database” – a numbered list I kept on my iPad. The research project started on the 1st of September and officially ended on the 31st of December 2011.
Even if I would love to include all B&J’s flavors, I decided to go for 10+. Another great feature of B&J is its continuous product launches, which makes it hard but fun to keep up with its products. Enough about the boring method details…
Conclusions
Here’s my list of top-14 Ben & Jerry’s**:
- Cherry Garcia
- Mint Chocolate Chunk
- Dulce Delish
- Chunky Monkey
- Half Baked
- Imagine Whirled Peace
- Chocolate Fudge Brownie
- Boston Cream Pie
- Peach Cobbler
- Mint Chocolate Cookie
- Phish Food
- Strawberry Cheesecake
- Vanilla Caramel Fudge
- Late Night Snack
A nice list, isn’t it? Which are your B&J favorites?
* This research project has been undertaken based on my research philosophy:
“If it’s not fun, why do it?” (Jerry Greenfield, co-founder J&B)
** These are the 14 flavors I’ve tested “scientifically.” There are a total of 35+ altering variants of B&J variants. Mr Solheim, if you read this, I would be thrilled if you would please ship me the remainder of the total sample. Thanks in advance.
Acknowledgments
Ben & Jerry’s homepage, Ben & Jerry’s on Wikipedia, and the refrigerated counter at Whole Foods Market Foggy Bottom, Washington DC.
3 responses to “Ben & Jerry’s: Top 14 ice creams from a peculiar company”
Ben & Jerrys is very popular in ireland and the rest of Europe but for buying pint tubs in supermarkets there are no more than 5 flavours to choose from, I would love to have the top 14 flavours available here in any size tubs! Milk and cookies or Boston cream pie or Cinnabon to name a few
Thanks for your comment Aaron. I’m in sympathy with your ideas. Living in the US for one year I surely take advantage of all the available flavors. I’ll write an update when I’ve done some more testing. Meanwhile you can also follow B&J’s tweets at @benandjerrys.
I’ll give your for the methodology, but I sense that something is wrong when Chocolate Fudge Brownie is all the way down on 7th! And where is cookie dough? More research is required!