Ben & Jerry's: The Inside Scoop: How Two Real Guys Built a Business with a Social Conscience and a Sense of Humor

by Fred Lager

"Deftly and compassionately captures [Ben's] genius in all its entrepreneurial splendor...This tale will keep you entertained."-- New York Times Book Review.

A former CEO of Ben & Jerry's tells how two '60s holdovers built a single ice cream store into one of America's hottest companies. From modest beginnings--opening their first ice cream shop in a renovated gas station--to entrepreneurial challenges, including their clash with Häagen-Dazs, to becoming a miltimillion dollar company, Lager provides an insightful insider's account of Ben & Jerry's ice cream empire.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Food, Biography, History, Cooking, Management

276 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 1994

Reviews

[K Shark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cool insight (see what I did there) into the early days of Ben and Jerry's ice cream from one of their early key employees and later CEO, Chico. While both Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield both founded the company it’s obvious that Ben was an extreme, headstrong person who acted as the main guiding force behind the company.

One of the big lessons within the book is the value of playing to your strengths. There were so many reasons why Ben and Jerry’s shouldn’t have done well and yet it was their unconventional ways which really led to their success. Again and again, I found myself amazed at the marketing genius that Ben displayed when his decisions would emphasise their strengths based on what people liked about the company, giving them an incredibly strong, likeable brand identity.

The story of how they took on Pillsbury after the Pillsbury owned Häagen-Dazs tried to block their distribution was a particularly good example of this. Where others might have backed off under intimidation from a much larger company, Ben and Jerry’s embraced their underdog status and used that as their main weapon in the fight.

The book also covered some of the conflict between Ben’s idealism and Chico’s attempts to manage the business. For instance, the company adopted a policy that capped executive pay under Ben’s influence which proved enormously difficult when they needed to attract experienced talent to bring order to the business. Obviously Ben and Jerry’s are famous for being leaders in social responsibility but I’d never considered the tension that priority had with the responsibility of growing a successful business.

This is also entirely my own fault, but I hadn't realised the book was written in 1995 and so it does of course cut the Ben and Jerry's story short. I was particularly interested in seeing how the sale to Unilever went but I'll have to check out one of the more recent books for that. This is a good book for checking out Ben and Jerry's early history with some useful business lessons too.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from making a great product, Ben and Jerry's ice cream also is a leader in social activism and strongly promotes good values and character.

We all love ice cream. This ebook describes the background story of how Ben and Jerry started their successful ice cream business.
Their mission statement had a three part focus: product, economic and social. Written by Fred Lager, he details how the business grew and faltered.
Ben was the driving force behind the company but his stand on the social part of the mission statement caused many battles for the company.
I loved this story because the company walks the walk and talks the talk emphasizing great character and strong values. A great business story that provides many lessons.

[Brady Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, but felt like it dragged at times and had a little bit too much detail at times.

[Tanzim · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a food brand founder, I found myself asking what brand do I love the most and why?

The answer that came back was Ben & Jerrys.

1 for it's phenomenonal ice cream. 2nd for its range of flavours and tastes which keeps my sweet tooth going. And finally for the courage and bravery it has showed for decades supporting the most important causes whether that's peace in the middle east, or environmental impact.

Which led me to this book.
What does it take to build a successful business, with a human heart and soul?

Did it answer that question i had? Yes.
It shows the true human flaws and cracks which made Ben & Jerry's, and which give its unique edge. How they thought about (or lack of structure) such noble questions and pursuits.

It's less of a whirlwind storm, and a more grounded and thorough plot of its key defining moments. You get a feel for the spirit of the founders, and the wonderful storm they did pass through without the sense of an impending doom or failure.

It has made me fall in love with Jer & Ben even more so.

I hope I can instill as much of a spirit and heart into my own venture - CREW provisions - as they did.

Kindest,
Tanzim

[Rupa Obulreddigari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read for innovating food startups

I enjoyed learning about Ben and Jerry's journey and the values it held through different phases of growth. Like all well written books, it's inspiring and a must read for businesses aiming to be socially responsible and ideologically progressive alongside being profitable.
I would have liked to read more about the innovations and the though processes behind the flavors and competitive edge they continued to foster through the years. Nonetheless, it was a comprehensive read of the successes and challenges of a start up and perhaps the author did want it to be that way.

[Casey Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! I don’t usually read non fiction, especially not about business, so it took a few chapters for me to get used to the slower pace of the book compared to the thrilling fantasies I’ve been reading, but the writing was clever and really does a good job of demonstrating how B&J’s overcame challenges to become a profitable, socially impactful, and generally fun company! I have begun to dream about doing something similar some day, and now I have a great place from which to draw inspiration. Great book for people who dream of making a positive impact on the world!

[AriesOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly entrepreneur's experience guidebook. If your interested in true to life small start up business experience, read this book! If your looking for real stories on how to keep your business growing, read this book! If your looking for ways to build your business around your community and real life objectives, read this book! If your looking for ways to figure out the challenges with your co workers or team, read this book!

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and learned some (I admit very basic) business terms. I enjoyed the wry humor of how the author came to grips with the accounting system he found at Ben and Jerry’s (very close to nothing). luckily it is Christmas Eve and stores are shut. One guess as to what I’m rather craving! 3.5 stars rounded up.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Nice to see something positive in the business world as opposed to so much negative in recent years. I almost never eat things like ice cream, but I did when they started their company and recall thinking it was the best stuff ever. And great marketing too! Good lessons...

[Marti]

Makes me hungry for ice cream!

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Their efforts were best when
They just let Ben be Ben.

[Laura Ruthven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a very interesting book about the company but its a bit long

[Eric Guilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool to hear the story of one of the coolest businesses (maybe not anymore?) in America.

[Tebel Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is as bad as their ice cream--
too much fat.

[John Obeid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice history of the humble beginnings of two hippies creating a modern ice cream giant

[Chavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story.

I didn't know the making of a company could be such an enthralling story, but this one is, with conflict, suspense, and a series of highs and lows, that as the stakes get higher become progressively higher and lower.

The main character Ben, like any great character, is flawed. He's genius and visionary and authentic, but unrealistic, capricious, and difficult to get along with. He's supported by a cast of characters including Jerry, his partner, Fred, the author and former CEO, and other staff members, competitors, and customers.

The plot follows the creation of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream company - beginning with the opening of their first ice cream shop in a converted gas station, to becoming a public company and a nationally recognized brand.

In addition to lawsuits and greedy competitors, the overarching conflict involves Ben and Jerry's quest to build a socially conscious business. They started as two anti-establishment hippies and were almost dismayed by their company's growth. As they grew they tried to maintain their integrity, and remain the fun, community business, but on a national scale.

Happily, in good vs. evil, good wins this one. The reader is left with the message that the little guy can triumph over greed and Big Business with hard work, good will and authenticity.

The book was published in 1994. Throughout the nineties Ben and Jerry's was not able to live up to Wall Street's standards, and in 2000 they sold to Unilever. The advantage of 20 years hindsight adds an extra level of insight to a postmodern Horatio Alger story.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the gift shop at the Waterbury, Vermont Ben & Jerry’s plant after the factory. I found that the book was more about the business world than about ice cream, but still enjoyed reading it.

In 1978 Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened up an ice cream shop in a former gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Perpetually short of equipment, employees, and money, but with lots of enthusiasm and a desire to be socially conscious, their enterprise turned into a national phenomenon. The author joined Ben & Jerry’s in 1982 after selling his bar down the street from the gas station. He started as general manager, and became President and CEO as the ice cream shop morphed into selling pints of ice cream to grocery stores and into a Big Company.

While I did learn a lot about ice cream making, this nook is much more about the problems inherent in small business growth and about how ice cream (or anything else) gets into your own local stores and supermarkets.

The author left Ben & Jerry’s amicably in 1991 and wrote this book in 1994, so I will be in search of book that brings the story of Ben & Jerry’s up to date. In the meantime, this remains a fun book to read.

[Books By Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a refreshing and inspiring insight into a company everyone knows. While I've enjoyed pints of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia over the years, I had no idea how the ice cream giant came to be. Nowhere on the pages did it depict two guys who knew what they were doing in the beginning or for many years. Rather, the real beauty and inspiring factors come from their ingenuity and not being phased when new situations came their way. In one word, the story appears very "honest" and that's how these "two real guys" have succeeded taking $40,000 and turning that into a company making over $100 million in sales.

Ben and Jerry never let the fear of the unknown stand in their way. Everybody can take that lesson and incorporate it into their lives and dreams.

[Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fred Lager’s Ben & Jerry’s: The Inside Scoopis a fascinating historical book about how Ben and Jerry got their start as a socially conscious ice cream company - this has been part of their company’s philosophy from the very beginning. This is written by their former CEO.

Although Lager does begin the book from before he got involved in the company (detailing how Ben and Jerry befriended each other in school and how they decided to launch an ice cream business together), the story becomes more interesting when he is able to present his firsthand account.

All in all, an interesting book for any Ben and Jerry’s fan. I picked up this book when visiting the Ben and Jerry’s factory in Vermont.

[Valerie]

I don't actually care for ice cream--I suffer from lactose intolerance, and bad teeth, so ice cream is not an unalloyed pleasure for me.

But when I do buy ice cream, this is the brand I tend to buy, because of the revelations in this book. Ben & Jerry aren't angels--but their 'business' model strikes me as a wholesome corrective to the ruthless practices of MBAs who too often forget that, as several people have pointed out recently, 'a budget is a moral document'.

Success in business CANNOT be anybody's prime goal, and should not. Policies like the waste management and personnel practices described herein are essential--and more and more people are beginning to recognize this.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole time I was reading this book I was thinking, "I can't believe this company was actually successful." Especially at the beginning, but even during their explosive growth, the leaders (mostly Ben) made the most arbitrary decisions. In fact, because they grew so fast and had so little capital, their management and logistic systems were always hopelessly behind their growth. I love ice cream, particularly Ben and Jerry's, and it was interesting to see how the company got started. There are many funny moments and stories, enough to keep it interesting even for people who don't like books about business.

[Aaron the Pink Donut · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would have known that the rich, flavorful ice-cream filled with massive amounts of chunky chocolates, fruits, and nuts really came about because of Ben’s terrible sense of taste and smell due chronic sinus trouble! This and so many other things are reviled in this wonderful book. The book follows Ben and Jerry from their humble roots as a shoe string cone stand to a thriving multimillion dollar nationally know company. This book was an absolute joy to read. It was refreshing to read about a company with a social conscious.

[Benjamin Haag · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that the bulk of my enjoyment with this book originated in my interest in the source material, to wit, the ambrosia that is Ben and Jerry's ice cream. That, and the seeming honesty that the author brings to the figurative table; he seems to recount both the highs and lows of his experience as one of Ben and Jerry's movers and shakers with evenhandedness.

[Jorge · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chapter "Ben is Ben" is worth gold, if only to understand the mindset of an entrepreneur. Ben is pretty much the Steve Jobs of ice cream. No doubt, no doubt in my mind. The book can be boring at times tho.

[Rebecca Buttigieg]

An interesting look at the evolution of the company, especially with regards to how the key players worked together (or didn't). I found it fascinating to see how people's personalities affected key business decisions.

[Nic Haralambous · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an extremely interesting read into the how Ben & Jerry's grew from a single store run by two guys into a huge business.

Very timeous read if you are building a retail store, if you care about retail, distribution, growth, branding, social awareness and leadership.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to read about the origins of the company, and the founders' focus on building a great product versus not going bankrupt. The history extends through the early 90s; I would like to read about the mid-90s through the present.

[Brad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious stories, business insights and interesting changes both the company and its founders went through when faced with overwhelming success.

[Gia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. Easy to read but with enough detail to be a robust learning experience.

[Mary'SU32class]

I am reading the book the scoop by Ben and Jerry. I am not that far into the book but so far the book has only talked about Ben and Jerry. In the book Ben and Jerry talk about how when they were younger they would eat and eat all day. My first impressions of the book so far is it is really boring because it has not gotten to the ice cream idea and it is just talking about high school. I would not recommend this book to younger kids. No offence to the author/s but so far it is really boring.