Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's is a Vermont company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. It was founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, and in April 2000, Ben & Jerry's sold the company to Anglo-Dutch multinational food giant Unilever. Unilever said it hoped to carry on the tradition of engaging "in these critical, global economic and social missions". Although the founders' names are still attached to the product, they do not hold any board or management position and are not involved in day-to-day management of the company. Today it operates globally as a fully owned subsidiary of Unilever. Its present-day headquarters is in South Burlington, Vermont, with its main factory in Waterbury, Vermont.
Issues Ben & Jerry's Support
The Brand also committed to tackle issues that they are care about, such as
- Justice ReMix'd (criminal justice and fairness campaign),
- Democracy
- Support GMO Labelling
- Fairtrade
- LGBT Equality
- Get The Dough Out of Politics
- Peace Building
- rBGH
- Refugees
- Racial Justice
Racial Justice Issue
Ben & Jerry’s has been working on issues related to race since 2016, in the aftermath of the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott by a Charlotte police officer, when it first aligned itself with the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraged customers to educate themselves or be complicit.[1] Ben & Jerry's believed that racism is still deeply embedded within systems like in schools, workplaces, the criminal justice system and hospitals, to name a few. They think that because white people occupy a disproportionate number of positions of power in society it comes at the expense of people of color. Therefore, they took a stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and received a massive response--mostly of overwhelming support, but also mixed with misunderstanding, sincere questions and some hatred. But the poin is that, it started a conversation.[2] They tackled this issue while partnering with organization like Color of Change and NAACP.
References
- ↑ Stewart, Rebecca (2020). ‘It's not a marketing exercise’: Ben & Jerry’s on dismantling white supremacy. Retrieved on January 13, 2020.
- ↑ Ben & Jerry's. Racial Justice. Retrieved on January 13, 2021.