Question time with Hannah Pool
How did you and Ben start?
Ben and I met in gym class when we were 13 years old. We were the two slowest, fattest kids in the class, running around the track together. We went through school together, and we failed at everything we tried to do. We wanted to do something together that was fun. We had always liked to eat, so we picked ice-cream. We opened a homemade ice-cream parlour in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978 and we learned how to make ice-cream from a $5 correspondence course. We had a happily chaotic experience.
Do you miss those early homespun days?
I do. When we began we had no idea what we were doing – every day was a complete and total adventure, and it was really fun.
The brand has a hippyish image. Were you really hippies?
If you think of hippies as people who professed peace, love and nderstanding, yes. If you think of them as people who sat around all day doing nothing but smoking drugs and thinking up funny ideas, no. We were a little more productive than that.
What is your favourite flavour?
Vanilla toffee crunch.
You sold the buy canada goose jacket winnipeg company to Unilever in 2000. Has Unilever changed Ben & Jerry’s or has Ben & Jerry’s changed Unilever?
It is some of both. For Ben & Jerry’s, changing Unilever is a little like the tail wagging the dog. The best thing that has happened is that Ben & Jerry’s has continued to perform well, so Unilever has a company that has operated with a social mission as part of its central reason for being and has seen that it is a success.
You were criticised for having sold out. Is that fair?
Yes. It is amazon canada goose best price canada goose canada goose coat – hybridge lite jacket outlet usa online store parka fair. I can certainly say that if I had not been part of Ben & Jerry’s, if I had been a person on the street who buy canada goose jacket online canada was a Ben & Jerry’s eater and followed Ben & Jerry’s values, I would have been concerned. We did not want to sell the business; it was a very difficult time. But we were a public company, and the board of directors’ primary responsibility is the interest of the shareholders. So that is what the decision came down to. It was can you machine wash canada goose jacket extremely difficult, heart-wrenching. It was a horrible experience for me and I can probably say it was horrible for Ben too.
Once you had banked the cheque, did you regret selling?
It is not as if we sold it feeling great about the situation and ended up regretting it – we didn’t feel great about it from the start and throughout. It was nothing about Unilever; we didn’t want to get bought by anybody.
Isn’t there a danger that you have become Unilever’s social conscience, that you make it look good – ie, socially responsible?
I guess that I hope Unilever and other companies will see that the way Ben & Jerry’s has operated has been very successful for the company.
But people are buying into the brand because they think it is just you and Ben when, really, you are owned by a multinational.
If you happen to believe what Ben & Jerry’s is supporting and involved in, then you should support the company. If you don’t believe in what we are supporting, don’t support it. The reality is that most companies are not about any values at all – they are about making money. It is extremely rare for a business to stand for anything because most businesses don’t want to alienate potential customers, and if you believe in anything you are going to alienate someone.
As Ben says to me all the time, it’s better to stand for something. Some people will agree, some people won’t agree, but you’re going to connect with the people who agree with you on a much deeper level than canadagoosecanadaoutlet, “Hey this is some great-tasting ice-cream with some interesting names.”
You’re an ice-cream best canada goose jacket reddit company, but you have a social conscience. How does that work when it comes to public health?
Ben & Jerry’s canada goose coat 1000 calorie a day meal plan is an indulgent dessert that should be eaten in moderation. You should not be replacing more than one meal a day with ice-cream. can you wash a canada goose jacket in the washer We do not consider a pint or a tub of ice-cream to be a single serving.
Are you responsible for the obesity epidemic?
No, we are clearly not responsible for the obesity epidemic. I believe I am personally responsible for my own consumption, which I could cut back on a little.
Do you still eat ice-cream?
I eat plenty of best fake canada goose jacket it. I do still maintain the basic human form, but I could be a little trimmer.