Ben & Jerry’s Fair Trade Campaign

BEN & JERRY’s Fair Trade Campaign

Ben and Jerry’s offers some of the world’s most unique and innovative ice cream flavors. Yet, the company’s success is not solely rooted in its ever-expanding variety. Their emphasis on integrity and social responsibility, reflected in the mission statement: “leading with progressive values in our business,” helps consumer to align themselves with Ben and Jerry’s as a brand.

Ben and Jerry’s mission oriented campaign:

In 2010, Ben and Jerry’s launched its ‘Fair Trade Campaign’. This is a significant commitment towards purchasing the ingredients for their product from a Fair Trade certified organization globally. The mission of this campaign is to eventually, by the end of 2013, have all Ben and Jerry’s ingredients come from Fair Trade. Ben and Jerry’s goal is to buy ingredients from farmers and treat them fairly so they can have the greatest impact on improving the lives of farmers. In other words, they want to stop the exploitation of farmers, strengthen their communities, and protect the environment.

Ben and Jerry’s is a forward thinking environmental company as well as a social justice company, but this doesn’t come without a cost. According to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield “the famers in the developing world will get a decent price for their products … we will make slightly less profit, but we will still get by.” Ben and Jerry’s want to lead the way by showing how a main stream company can do fair trade and still be very successful. Ben and Jerry’s also hope that this initiative will be taken up by other companies.

The publicized campaign:

Besides various statements to the public via news reports, YouTube videos and press releases on the company’s website, the Fair Trade Logo is found on the front of the cardboard boxes on each of their 28 Fair Trade flavors.

One of the most popular Fair Trade Flavors, “Late Night Snack”, was launched in the Jimmy Fallon