EIGHTEEN years after scooping their first ice cream cone at a modest parlour on the US east coast, ice cream's quirky duo of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, better known to ice cream buffs as Ben & Jerry's, are taking on arch rival Haagen Dazs in Europe. A company has been established in Holland to distribute the creamy product with a high lifestyle cachet.
Ben & Jerry, which lost money last year for the first time in its history, is looking for new markets and new products.
This is an unconventional company with a home spun management philosophy. More ethically correct that Body Shop, it favours co-operatives and alternative groups as its suppliers, including some set up by former drug addicts. It donates 7.5 per cent of pre tax profits to charities and left wing political pressure groups. Jerry Greenfield said the company believed in no advertising, financial support of good causes and "building relationships with the community". One obvious new product is well sugared American style apple pie, just like Mamma used to make. A sure fire winner.
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