Our story comparing the Task Cycle® to ice cream was so successful, we decided to stick with the theme in writing our leader profile for the month of July. What other great American business leader would we profile besides one of the founders of the creamy classic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company? Read on for insight on how he became a leader in sustainable business practices.
Born March 18, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York, Ben Cohen was interested in ice cream from a young age. His parents say that he would mix various flavors together and add candies, cookies, and other food items into the “custom flavors” he produced on a regular basis.
He attended Calhoun High School in Merrick, NJ, where he met his future business partner and fellow ice cream lover, Jerry Greenfield. During his high school years, Cohen worked as an ice cream truck driver before he headed off to Colgate University. Struggling with school, he dropped out a year-and-a-half after enrolling, and returned to what he knew: ice cream. Cohen later re-enrolled in Skidmore College, the University Without Walls, and finally NYU to study art therapy, and paid for his education by doing odd jobs such as working as a McDonald’s cashier, mopping floors at a local store, taxi cab driver, and pediatric emergency room clerk. After settling on a job working with emotionally disturbed students by using art therapy, Cohen began to again experiment with making his own ice cream.
In 1978, Cohen and Greenfield invested $12,000 in a dilapidated gas station in Burlington, VT. Originally wanting to start a bagel shop, they switched to ice cream because of the lower startup costs. Cohen and Greenfield used a variety of non-traditional and recycled materials to renovate the building, including scrap aluminum from the local newspaper’s printing factory.
College students loved the combination of fresh milk, creative flavors, and chunks of anything that meshed well with ice cream. Cohen and Greenfield’s venture was so successful that they rented out an old spool-and-bobbin shop to begin distributing their unique flavors in pints. They marketed to mom-and-pop stores around the area. In 1981, Ben & Jerry’s expanded its distribution and opened its first franchise in Shelbourne, VT.
Soon, Ben & Jerry’s developed into a nationwide phenomenon. As profits skyrocketed, Cohen looked for ways to give back to the community. He helped create the Ben & Jerry’s foundation in 1985 as a way for the company to become involved with community projects. He believed that “"Business has a responsibility to give back to the community from which it draws its support.” Cohen allotted for 7.5% of all Ben & Jerry’s profits to go towards the Ben & Jerry’s foundation. Today, the Ben & Jerry’s foundation donates to many causes, including scholarship foundations and playground builds, and especially to organizations focusing on environmental action.
Ben & Jerry’s continued to find ways to cut down on waste and to be more environmentally friendly. Upon building their first ice cream manufacturing plant, environmental efforts were heightened (also as cost cutting measures) by measures like recycling cardboard, plastic, and paper, banning sticky notes, and allowing pencils to be thrown away only when deemed “stubby enough.” Soon, all food waste from the ice cream plant was fed to pigs at a local farm rather than being thrown out. Ben & Jerry’s began producing flavors especially for certain causes, such as to raise funds for rainforest reforestation, protest Alaskan drilling, and to use brownie chunks produced by a company employing disadvantaged workers in New York.
Cohen, a self proclaimed “hippie,” resigned from the position of CEO in 1995 after years of overseeing the now-massive ice cream chain. He remained on the Ben & Jerry’s advisory board, and has chosen to dedicate himself to speaking out about causes that impassion him. He currently promotes green business practices, small-scale farming, and children’s health care programs. In 2000, he was honored by the New York Open Center for his “leadership in pioneering socially responsible business.”
Photo courtesy of Getty Images Via Daylife
Other Sources include:
Ben & Jerry's Corporate Website: History
Wikipedia
Evan Carmichael's Famous Entrepreneur
