Ben and Jerry

Ben and Jerrys ice-cream smart set is well known for its sales in the USA, Europe, and Asia. They are a very well established, successful, world-wide operation. Since 2000, the company has continually improved their ice-cream brands. They sell its named ice-cream and frozen yoghurt under brand names such as dumpy Monkey and Cherry Garcia. Chunky Monkey is banana ice-cream with fudge chunks and walnuts. In 2009, Chunky Monkey was named among the top ten best ice-cream flavors in London. Philanthropy is excessively a strength of Ben and Jerrys ice-cream.The Company contributed $1,206,412 to the Ben & Jerrys Foundation in 2002, as compared to $1,178,423 in 2001. Ben and Jerrys divide the philanthropic pool of funds amidst the Foundation, Corporate Philanthropy, and employee Community Action Teams (CATs). The company sponsors many PartnerShops. Partnershops are Ben and Jerrys scoop shop outlets which are independently owned and operated by nonprofit organizations. The organizations they cooperator with, work with youth that encounter barriers to employment. They use the scoop shops as a place to carryout hands-on job training.Ben and Jerrys waive the franchise fee and win additional financial support to their partners. They have more than 750 Scoop Shops worldwide. The company is involved in global warming campaigns. Ben and Jerrys commitment is to reduce the companys vitamin C dioxide emissions by 10 percent. On many levels, their employees are directly involved to help make this commitment happen. After twenty-five old age of independent operation, Ben and Jerrys were bought out by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer products firm for $325 million.Under the deal, Unilever gave Ben and Jerrys shareholders $43. 60 per share. Through it all, Ben and Jerrys were able to retain their social state stand. They were able to remain the co- primeers involved with product development. Ben and Jerrys brands complemented Unilevers ice-cream brands. In the past, Ben and Jerrys have lacked professionalism from their upper management. In 2006, the companys former CFO, Stuart Wiles, was found guilty of embezzling some $300,000 from the company during his tenure which ran from 2000 to 2004.He spent the money on car repairs, gifts, vacations, entertainment, clothing and even a $58,000 addition to his home. He was sentenced to xxvii months in prison. Also, in 2006, they had to stop using Michael Foods as their egg supplier. An animal welfare campaign pressured Ben and Jerrys to dump the egg producer accused of mistreating its chickens. An secret video, showed dead and dying chickens stuck in their cages. Ben and Jerrys bought about two million pounds of eggs per year from the supplier. Despite several corporate weaknesses, the company achieved success.In 1994, Ben and Jerrys reinvested large amounts of money into property and equipment. By purchasing the property and equipment, they increased their long-term debts by almost 45 perce nt. They also increased their marketing and marketing expenses. They thought it would be best to take out an immense amount of capital lease to automate production. They saw the need to do this so they could keep up with the intense competition. In todays health conscious society, Ben and Jerrys have put outd more fat-free and healthy alternative ice-cream and frozen yogurt products.These low-fat, no-fat products still contain the creamy richness and unbeatable quality, but only have three grams of fat per serving. Ben and Jerrys also provide allergen free regimen items, such as gluten free and peanut free. In 2008, Ben and Jerrys acquired Best Foods and Slim-fast. Slim-fast happens to be one of Unilevers top-performers allowing them to enter a new industry of heaviness loss products. In turn, Unilever can now expand into more countries like Europe, where weight loss management is taking hold. In 2009, Ben and Jerrys announced plans to introduce the countrys first HFC-free freez er.These freezers do not emit harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. Most freezers in the U. S. use hydro fluorocarbon gases to generate cooling. These HFCs have a significant downside. HFCs are among a group of refrigerants, known as F-gases, highly potent greenhouse gases. The most commonly used HFC has a global warming potential (GWP) of 3,200. This means that a ton of this gas in the atmosphere has the same global warming effect as 3,200 tons of carbon dioxide. Over time, all those leaking freezers can make a significant contribution to the problems of global warming.