Ben & Jerry’s operates on a three-part mission that aims to create linked prosperity for everyone that’s connected to our business: suppliers, employees, farmers, franchisees, customers, and neighbors alike.
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Integral Thinking & True Materiality, Part 5: Scalability Opportunities Define the Size of Impact
7 years ago - This is part 5 of a 6-part series about integral thinking and true materiality. It proposes a new impetus to develop reporting that is able to serve the idea of a green & inclusive economy. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
Report: How 15 Major Consumer Brands Are (or Aren't) Effectively Leveraging Sustainability Communication
7 years ago - It’s commonly assumed that mainstream Main Street isn’t interested in sustainability. Shoppers will buy on price, performance and reliability. They’re swayed by celebrity endorsements and some of them want to be associated with stuff that’s cool. But being sustainable? Not a chance.
How to Communicate Sustainability at a Brand Level
7 years ago - SB ‘15 London’s third and final afternoon kicked off with a colourful session with Matthew Yeomans, founder of Sustainly, a knowledge consultancy and advisory platform based around bringing together the worlds of sustainability and communications.Yeomans discussed the results of Sustainly’s The Big Brand Report: How 175 Major Brands Do and Don’t Talk about Sustainability, which looks at if and how brands are talking to their customers about sustainability. The workshop revealed what is and isn’t working for brand-level social media communications.
How to (and How Not to) Use Humour, 'Macho-Eco' Identities to Communicate Sustainability
7 years ago - This Tuesday afternoon breakout session saw Thomas Kolster, founder and creative director at the Goodvertising Agency, and Kerry Eustice, Editorial Partnerships Editor at The Guardian Sustainable Business, share their perspectives on changing the conversation around sustainability values.Early on, Kolster asserted that sustainability advertising is not doing enough to drive change, as it tends to be less engaging than other advertising messages. He and Eustice discussed dos, don’ts and new approaches that could change the way the message of sustainability is communicated.
Report: Food Companies Gaining Ground on Product Sustainability
7 years ago - Food production dominates fresh water use and is a primary driving force for soil and biodiversity loss – and food demand is on the rise. The good news is that while faced with such challenges and often considered to be lagging on sustainability, the food and beverage industry stands out as most-improved in a 2015 survey.
Food Companies to Congress: Step Up with Bold, Enforceable Climate Agreement at COP21
7 years ago - The CEOs of 10 global food companies pledged to accelerate business action on climate change and urged U.S. and world leaders to form a robust international agreement at COP21 in December in a joint letter coordinated by Ceres and released yesterday.
365 Companies, Investors Send Letters Announcing Support for EPA's Clean Power Plan
7 years ago - In an unprecedented show of business support for tackling climate change, 365 companies and investor groups sent letters today to more than two dozen governors across the United States voicing their support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan for existing power plants and encouraging the state’s “timely finalization” of state implementation plans to meet the new standards.The letter, organized by sustainability advocacy group Ceres, comes just days before the expected finalization of the rule aimed at reducing U.S. power plant carbon pollution by 30 percent by 2030.
With 'Too Hot To Handle,' Guardian and Ben & Jerry's Banking on Humor to Drive Climate Action
7 years ago - Can humor save us? Today, the Guardian launched a new multimedia series on climate change that aims to drive the public conversation, debate and action on climate change by making its readers laugh. “Too Hot to Handle,” which encourages readers to take “a lighter look at the dark problem of climate change,” was created in partnership with Ben and Jerry’s and will run through December 2015.
How Can We Scale the B Corp Movement?
7 years ago - In an engaging session on Thursday morning, the final day of SB ’15 San Diego, a group of expert panelists discussed the obstacles and opportunities to growing the Certified B corporation movement, and faced some tough questions from the audience on its future.
Ben & Jerry’s Announces Carbon Tax Covering Farm to Landfill Emissions
8 years ago - Ben & Jerry’s has announced that it will institute its own internal carbon tax of $10 for every metric ton of its greenhouse gas emissions, from farm to landfill.Using a recent Lifecycle Analysis that gave the ice cream company a “cow-to-cone” picture of its carbon footprint, Ben & Jerry’s says it will be putting the funds from the tax to jumpstart sustainbility programs it’s already working on. Due to the fact that the dairy component counts for 42 percent of its overall lifecycle emissions, the company will start by working with farmers to develop and implement carbon footprint-reducing strategies.
Levi Strauss, Gap, Autodesk Join 24 Companies Supporting California's Sweeping Clean Energy Bill
8 years ago - Today, 24 companies with a substantial footprint in California, including Ben & Jerry’s, eBay, Gap, Levi Strauss, The North Face and Sungevity, announced their support for SB-350, the “Golden State’s Standard 50-50-50,” that sets new benchmarks for increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency, and decreasing petroleum use by 2030. Their support was communicated in a letter sent to the bill’s author, Senate President pro Tempore, Kevin de León.
Why I Don’t Like Beyoncé
8 years ago - I like singing, dancing and snapping like everyone else when it comes to ‘Single Ladies.’ And I totally agree - if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it. But it still doesn't mean I like Beyoncé.Why don't I like Beyoncé? Very simple, I have no clue who she is. I've never met her and know anything about her life. How I can I like her? What's there to like? I just don't like her. Not even a bit.Make no mistake, I don't dislike Beyoncé either. I am completely ambivalent when it comes to Beyoncé the person. Beyoncé the person is a complete unknown to me and everyone who isn't close family or friends. How can you like or dislike something or someone you simply don't know and have no clue who or what they are?
IKEA, Mars, Novelis, Unilever Among 233 Companies Expressing Support for EPA's Clean Power Plan
8 years ago - Marking the end of the comment period on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, 223 companies have announced their support for EPA’s proposed carbon standard for electric power plants, including IKEA, Mars Inc., VF Corporation, Novelis, Levi Strauss, Unilever and Nestlé.
The Smart Economics of Carbon Accounting: Developing a 2020 Vision for Your Brand’s Environmental & Financial Impact
8 years ago - Actively managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has proven to result in direct economic gains for companies. A 2013 KPMG study of the S&P 500 companies found that firm value decreases on average by $212,000 for every additional thousand metric tons of carbon emissions produced. CDP’s Global 500 Climate Change Report 2013 showed that companies who are leaders of sustainability reporting have higher overall returns than companies of the Global 500.
2-Part #NewMetrics '14 Panel Shines Light on Sustainability Context in Practice
8 years ago - A two-part session on Thursday afternoon explored sustainability context through examining the evolution of corporate sustainability goals, and case studies from leading companies proactively applying it to their goal-setting processes.First, Sustainability Context Group co-founder Bill Baue — moderator of both parts — led a discussion on the state of corporate sustainability goals and equipping companies with practical advice on how to incorporate context.
Plenaries Unveil Next-Gen Goal-Setting Frameworks, Groundbreaking Product Assessments on #NewMetrics '14 Day 2
8 years ago - It is no secret that markets are starting to demand a more complete picture of businesses' interactions with environmental and social realities of the world — a new, expanded set of success factors and risks to inform key stakeholders — or simply #NewMetrics. How New Metrics are conceived, brought to life, communicated effectively, and perfected over time, are the key questions metrics experts in the Sustainable Brands community are tackling this week at New Metrics '14, taking place in Cambridge, MA, in partnership with the Sustainability Initiative at the MIT Sloan School of Business.
Letting Your Mission Drive Success: Lessons from Ben & Jerry's and Seventh Generation
8 years ago - All businesses value consumer and employee loyalty and the opportunity to shape the playing field in which they operate. Mission-driven businesses such as B Corps Seventh Generation and Ben & Jerry’s are finding that having an authentic purpose that resonates with their customers opens the door to exciting approaches to activism that engage their base in powerful ways. The union of company and employee passions not only boosts loyalty but also can lead to successful advocacy for shared causes. Conventional companies seeking to emulate their successes should follow three key steps:1. Build a mission that is relevant for your consumers
Ben & Jerry's Pilots the MultiCapital Scorecard™ Method
8 years ago - Way back in 2000 when Ben & Jerry’s (B&J) was acquired by Unilever, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield had the presence of mind to require that the acquisition agreement itself include language that would ensure the preservation and growth of the company’s sustainability and social mission programs. To that end, the acquisition agreement also included language that required the development of a set of supporting metrics. After many years of experimenting with alternative approaches, Rob Michalak, Global Director of Social Mission at B&J, believes they may have finally found what they’re looking for: the MultiCapital Scorecard™ (MCS).
How Ben & Jerry's and NativeEnergy Helped a Vermont Dairy Farmer Turn Waste Into a Resource
8 years ago - Dairy farmer Chris Wagner, owner of the Green Dream Farm in Enosburg Falls, Vermont, has a new setup that provides him with low-cost bedding for his herd and reduces the greenhouse gas produced by his cows. Wagner was able to install the technology by partnering with fellow Vermonters NativeEnergy, a carbon-offset and project-development company, and Ben & Jerry’s, the iconic ice cream maker.Wagner’s new equipment processes his cow manure and then composts it. The resulting product is sanitary and makes excellent bedding for his milking herd. As a result, Wagner will no longer have to purchase wood shavings and will see significant savings in the cost of bedding.
Ben & Jerry’s Sourcing New Ingredients, Renaming Flavors to Meet Non-GMO, Fairtrade Standard
8 years ago - In support of Vermont’s first-in-the-nation GMO-labeling law, Ben & Jerry’s has temporarily renamed its beloved Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor ice cream “Food Fight Fudge Brownie,” and announced that $1 from each sale of the limited-edition flavor from Ben & Jerry’s locations throughout Vermont will support the State’s legal defense fund: Several food and biotech companies have filed suit against challenging the law, which is slated to go into effect in July 2016 — hence, the “Vermont Food Fight Fund.” The company says the “Food Fight” version of the flavor will be available in its company-owned shops but not in grocery store pints.