Ben and Jerrys

Ben and Jerry’s

Premium Ice Cream Products

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream is a brand name company known worldwide. With superior marketing techniques Ben and Jerry’s has positioned themselves to be the leader in manufacturing premium ice cream products. They have successfully targeted their market, and there by achieved a strong customer base. The mission statement of their product line is “to make, distribute, and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream while incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the earth and the environment”.(1)

This company is known to be a monopolistically competitive, because there are still many firms and consumers, just as in perfect competition, but they still have control over what price they charge in their company, because Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is differentiated from the other ice cream companies and they provide a lot of non price competition which will be mentioned later in the paper.

Ben and Jerry’s began in 1963 when Ben Cohn and Jerry Greenfield met in a New York middle school gym class. While playing together, neither realized what the future would hold in store and ultimately changed their lives forever. By 1977, Ben and Jerry moved to Burlington, Vermont and enrolled in an ice cream making class at Penn State, which required a tuition fee of only five dollars. After their exceptional performance in the class, the two made a $12,000 initial investment on May 5, 1978 to open their first ice cream shop in Burlington. (1)

The small Vermont community was considered very important to Ben and Jerry and therefore they made sure that the residents of the area benefited as well as they did in their business venture. As an example, they celebrated the company’s first anniversary by giving away free ice cream cones to the public. In 1980, Ben and Jerry decided to expand the business and move into an old mill where they packaged their ice cream into pints and distributed them to “Mom & Pop” stores. The company operation continued to grow in 1981 when they opened the first Ben and Jerry’s Scoop Shop franchise. (1)

Today, Ben and Jerry’s has expanded into a multi-million dollar business, and continues to open franchises throughout the world. Maintaining their commitment to “share the wealth,” these two business men have supported many charitable organizations including “ 1% For Peace,” “Support Farm Aid,” and “One World, One Hear Festival,” (1)

Ben and Jerry’s has the lead in manufacturing premium ice cream. Their market strategy involves the use of natural ingredient to achieve their goal of a gourmet quality product. Ben and Jerry’s is a market segment in which they specialize by product. They sell to everyone. Ben and Jerry’s line of specialized products consists of gourmet premium ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. They also sell ice cream themed novelties, but focus mainly on the specialty of ice cream.

Consumers who buy Ben and Jerry’s are heavy users. They know exactly what they are buying: the best premium quality ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s consumers enjoy this product because they get a high status satisfaction from using a world-known brand. Their ice cream is not only available in the United States, but is also sold throughout the reset of Europe. Consumers elsewhere may also enjoy Ben and Jerry’s as it can even be ordered online.

Ben and Jerry’s is a very successful company having differentiated itself from other companies like Breyer’s or Homemade. Breyer’s and Homemade are companies that are mostly sold in grocery stores and they are not that well known for their quality as Ben and Jerry’s. Although there is a competition for Ben and Jerry’s coming from Hagen Daz company, that also provides the quality ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s also has a very unique brand image and sets itself above its competitors. “Ben and Jerry’s ice cream did a wonderful job of developing brand uniqueness, which enabled it to become a successful company.”(4) The instant recognition of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is now legend. That is to say that the outside label design is readily identified as an American staple.

The central business focus of Ben and Jerry’s mandates a specific marketing mix. Principally, the product is highly specialized, yet in a way that allows for gross variation while still appealing to a broad consumer base. Acknowledgement, access, and affordability mitigate this range of appeal. Such necessitates an overall marketing strategy that effectively communicates the uniqueness of their product, which due to their premium quality, are priced above average. Concordantly, growth then becomes a function of the range of distribution;