ICE-CREAM Artisan producers still make up a tiny slice - or small scoop - of Ireland's growing ice-cream market. Ian Kilroy visits the Ben & Jerry's plant in Vermont to see how a small, ethical producer can make it big.
Ben & Jerry's ice-cream factory, in the US state of Vermont, is a mecca for ice-cream lovers. Part of the attraction is the hippie ethos of the company, with its socially and environmentally conscious agenda. But really it's the simply exquisite, gooey goodness of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream that is the real draw.
Cherry Garcia, Dublin Mudslide, Fudge Central - a Ben & Jerry's flavour is almost as innovative for its name as it is for its combination of ingredients. When the company was started by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Vermont in 1978, it was the unusual flavour combinations that really set them apart, allowing a small local operation - Irish food producers take note - to grow into a global giant in just 25 years.
On the tour at their Waterbury plant, the company's humble origins are emphasised. We learn how "the two fattest, slowest kids in their seventh-grade gym class" went on to become a college drop-out and medical school reject, before doing a $5 correspondence course in ice-cream making, "because an ice-cream maker was cheaper than a bagel machine". They first set up shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington. Sales have doubled every year since, and it has proved a roaring success in Ireland since it was introduced in the mid-1990s.
After their first year of production, Ben & Jerry thanked their early customers by initiating a free scoop day at their Burlington premises. It's a tradition the company has kept up since - one day every spring - with more than one million free scoops given away free internationally.
What's amazing about Ben & Jerry's is how it still draws on its local roots, despite being bought by food giant Unilever in 2000. In the early days, stock options were offered solely to residents of Vermont. So there's a real sense that there's a local stake in the whole business.
For Vermont farmers, that stake is literal. All the cows used in the production of Ben & Jerry's milk and cream come from local family farms. The farms are part of a co-op that has pledged not to use bovine growth hormone, which is legal in the US, although illegal in Europe and Canada. That, and the use of biodegradable packaging, stems from the company's mission statement, which puts its social responsibilities up there beside its quality and economic aims.
Ben & Jerry's gives away about $1 million annually to causes it deems worthy. In the past it has supported environmental causes, but this year is supporting a "Rock the Vote" campaign, which aims to register as many US voters for next November's US presidential election as possible.
But all that social awareness is the last thing on your mind as you set foot in Ben & Jerry's Waterbury plant. You reach it after driving through the verdant dairy countryside of Vermont. You feel like you've been admitted to a real-life version of Willy Wonka's factory, where strange machines churn out bizarrely coloured magical treats.
The Waterbury plant is the only one where a tour is available, despite the fact that Ben & Jerry's also have plants in Canada, Israel and The Netherlands.
This international expansion has come only in the past 10 years. Popularity has been spurred by word of mouth, as the company doesn't advertise. But the plant in Vermont still makes much of the ice-cream, even for the overseas markets.
Where you are may determine what flavour you get, however. The fruitier flavours are bigger in Europe than they are in the US; Americans prefer the chocolate and fudge-based flavours. Of the 200 flavours the company has made so far, only 50 or so are kept in production at a time. Trial flavours are launched from time to time, but they only last beyond a year if they prove popular.
The new Dublin Mudslide - Irish cream liqueur, with chocolate chip cookies and chocolate fudge swirl - is one such trial flavour. Hopefully it will prove a hit, as it tastes stunning. If it does go, however, there's a "flavour graveyard" at Waterbury, where old flavours can be checked out. It's also possible to vote online to revive flavours that have passed on.
If your favourite flavour remains unavailable, however, it might be worth the pilgrimage to Vermont for one final taste. You will get a film explaining the history of the company, see the production process and, best of all, get to taste new trial flavours.
As you leave the tasting room, there's a carnival mirror that makes you look considerably thinner than you are. That made little difference to some of the people that shared my tour - super-sizers, if ever I saw them. But never fear. A new line of Ben & Jerry's low-fat ice-creams and water-based sorbets are hitting the market now. As for Unilever, it has things both ways - it bought Slimfast just a week after it scooped up Ben & Jerry's.
Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are less involved with the company since the Unilever buy-out. However, they still have a say in how the business is run and have managed to retain much of the original ethos. What a pity, though, that ownership didn't remain solely in local Vermont hands. It seems Ben and Jerry ultimately chose to cash in rather than drop out.