Ben & Jerry's Case Study

Case Study: Ben & Jerry’s

The founding of a company directly affects its future, and therein its potential success or failure. In the case of Ben & Jerry’s company Community Products Inc., the basis of their foundation, despite good intentions and worthy causes, was not solid, and led to their ultimate collapse. The company sought to do good on a global and environmental level, yet failed to bring those lofty aspirations home.

In 1989, Ben & Jerry’s cofounder, Ben Cohen, created a company called Community Products Inc., which he founded in hopes of saving the Rainforest, and contributing to other environmental causes. The company began well in the summer of 1989, and Cohen planned to donate incredible amounts of profits to various causes, for instance, by importing nuts from the Amazon rain forest harvested by natives in the Amazon basin. This would help sustain local economies, and help the cause of low impact agriculture to preserve the land. They began by creating nut brittle candies, and creating a new flavor of ice cream called Rainforest Crunch, and became the new media darlings for their noble cause, creative genius and bold marketing style.

However, the problems began almost immediately. Many backers jumped at the opportunity to support Ben & Jerry’s CPI by giving money to the new company. The company bought up millions of pounds of nuts, only to find that the nuts were tainted, and not up to First World standards. This proved to be quite a problem, considering that the natives did not understand, nor feel any need to live up to these standards. Various things, including glass, hair, rocks, and insects were found in the Rainforest Crunch ice cream as well as potentially deadly bacteria, and there was “an extreme lack of quality within [the] process.” The problems continued downhill. Workers were required to knead the candy by hand, and the activity led to incredible rates of carpal tunnel syndrome. Cohen became neglectful of his duties, barely showing...