Freezer pleaser Greenfield brings progressive taste, ideas to Kellogg

By Aubrey Henretty

Call it a chilly reception for a legendary ice cream man whose business model has always warmed hearts and turned a tidy profit.

In this case, the chill was welcome indeed, as Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben and Jerry's Homemade Inc., visited the Kellogg School Feb. 22, bringing along plenty of his company's famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream to tempt the palates of the Kellogg students, staff and faculty who gathered to hear him talk business.

There were a few surprises as Greenfield recalled his professional journey.

In fact, Greenfield admitted that he never thought he would end up in the ice cream business. When he and co-founder Ben Cohen opened their first shop in Vermont in 1978, neither was convinced he'd stay in business, period.

“We had no business experience,” Greenfield said, nor did they have any idea what they would do should the scoop shop melt down. “We thought we'd become cross-country truck drivers or something like that.”

Greenfield spoke in the Donald P. Jacobs Center as part of the Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Series, an event sponsored by the Kellogg Social Impact Club and Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Kellogg.

Since its humble beginnings, Ben and Jerry's Homemade has become a publicly traded $200-million company famous as much for its social consciousness as for its premium desserts. Greenfield, who is today vice-chair of the board and director of mobile promotions, said the company's rise to the top was at once exciting and unsettling.

“Lo and behold, we found ourselves business people,” he said, “which really shocked us and scared us and turned our stomachs, because we were hippies from the '60s and we'd always thought of business as this big, horrible thing.”

But the entrepreneurs, who met in their seventh-grade gym class, found a way to infuse their progressive spirit into the business venture. As the company boomed, Greenfield said he and Cohen realized quickly that the perks of being in charge include having the power to make the rules. Over the years, and despite being acquired by Unilever in 2000, they have insisted on such things as biodegradable packaging, hormone-free milk and sustainable growth.

The company's Web site offers information on ways to support peace and fight global warming. It also proclaims the values of “linked prosperity,” a model that recognizes the mutual importance of producing top-quality products and operating in an economically sustainable fashion while also making significant contributions to the local, national and international community. Among the company's efforts to advance this mission is the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, a nonprofit created in 1985. The foundation offers competitive grants to grassroots organizations which “facilitate progressive social change by addressing the underlying conditions of societal and environmental problems,” according to information on its Web site.

“If you don't like something about the way business is done, you can just change it,” said Greenfield.

The sentiment seemed perfectly cool to the capacity crowd enjoying the taste, and ideas, that built one of today's popular brands.