History of Ben & Jerry's

Bennett Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends born four days apart in 1951 in Brooklyn, New York. They met in 7th grade gym class in Long Island in 1963. They were the two slowest kids in class. Ben and Jerry moved to Vermont and completed a $5 correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State University. They remained friends though high school and both graduated from Merrick's Calhoun High in the late 1960s.

In May 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, opened their first-ever ice cream parlor. They set up shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington with a $12,000 investment.

Ben & Jerry’s was originally going to be a bagel company, but Ben and Jerry found the bagel-making equipment to be too pricey. Their plan was to deliver bagels, lox, cream cheese, and the New York Times on Sunday mornings. Instead, they settled on ice cream.

They decided Burlington, Vt., was an ideal location for a scoop shop because it was a college town without an ice cream parlor. Ben & Jerry’s is a fast favorite among Vermonters and word travels far and wide. It was an immediate success and soon a favorite spot in Burlington. Greenfield made most of the ice cream, while Cohen handled all the other aspects of the operation.

In 1980 Ben and Jerry rent space in an old spool and bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and begin packing their ice cream in pints. In 1983, the company opened its first non-Vermont franchise in Maine and signed a deal with a Boston distribution company.

Ben & Jerry's introduces Cherry Garcia® ice cream in 1987. Named for Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia at the suggestion of two "DeadHeads" from Portland, Maine, Cherry Garcia® becomes the first ice cream named for a rock legend.

In 2000 international food giant Unilever purchased the Ben & Jerry’s brand for $326 million.
History of Ben & Jerry's