Ben and Jerry’s

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Ben and Jerry’s Sustainability Actions

Certified B Corporation

Certified Since September 2012. Ben & Jerry’s 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.

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Used unbleached paperboard

The “eco-pint” was unveiled in February 1999 after several years of development. By the end of that year, one-third of Ben & Jerry’s packaging was made out of unbleached paperboard. The company had gone forward with its original plan despite the US government’s approval of a less-polluting alternative in 1998.

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Joined Ceres principles

Ben & Jerry’s had been a corporate leader in environmental impact reduction in 1992, when it signed the Ceres principles, and again in 1994, when it added a label certifying that it did not use ingredients produced with bovine growth hormone.

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Added bovine growth hormone label

In 1994, it added a label certifying that it did not use ingredients produced with bovine growth hormone.

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Worked on dairy runoff

In 1999, Ben & Jerry’s joined with a grain company, experts at Cornell University and the University of Vermont, its main dairy supplier (the St Albans co-op), and two pilot farms to look for ways to reduce runoff in small, practical ways.

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Opened PartnerShops

It had set a goal of opening five new PartnerShops, which was its term for ice cream stores that were operated by not-for-profit groups as job training programmes, in 1998, but various barriers and complications kept it from opening any. Even though Ben & Jerry’s opened four shops owned by non-profits in 1999, Liz Bankowski, then director of social mission, was rethinking the whole idea.

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Adopted global operating guidelines

In 1999, Ben & Jerry’s also took steps to integrate the social mission into its overseas operations. It adopted global operating guidelines aimed at protecting the brand’s image and the three-part mission in other countries. The company said it would look at each country’s human-rights record and take steps to address any issues, and it would also try to express its activism in ways that respected local cultures.

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What do our labels mean?

Certified B Corporation Logo

Certified B Corporation

About Ben and Jerry’s

  • Status
  • Unverified
  • Employees
  • 100 - 500
  • Country
  • United States