Ben & Jerry's

Twenty years after Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop opened in Burlington, Vermont, sales have climbed to over $190 million. The company has more than 600 employees and 10 franchises. Why the appeal? For one thing, Ben & Jerry are masters creating innovative flavors such as Cherry Gracia and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. For another, customers know that 7.5 percent of the company’s pre-tax profits are donated to a variety of social and environmental causes. For a while it seemed the company could do no wrong. Then, in the mid-1990s, facing stiff competition in the super premium ice cream category, the company suffered a series of losses. It began a highly publicized search for a new CEO to lead the company. The choice, a McKinsey consultant, was greeted with high hopes but lasted only two years. Current CEO Perry Odak, who arrived in 1997, has steered the company back on track to an impressive 12 percent growth in 1998.

Odak has refined product lines, changed funky but confusing packaging, and tightened the company’s loose and often chaotic business practices. And for those fearing a sellout from Mr. Odak – whose resume includes a stint at U.S. Repeating Arms rifle makers – they need only consider this: Tightening the company’s business practices is not only improving the bottom line but also seems to be promoting performance when it comes to worthy causes. Elizabeth A. Bankowski, the company’s social mission director, said: “We now meet and identify social mission objectives by function, and it’s taken as seriously as every other business objective.” Since Odak took over the day-to-day management of the company, performance reviews even reflect how well employees identify and meet their social mission objectives.