From the start, Ben and Jerry’s made social mission an integral part of the company vision statement. Now a wholly-owned autonomous subsidiary of Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s remains as committed to its social mission as to producing a wide variety of super premium ice creams and ice cream products. Ben and Jerry’s social mission focuses on children and families, social justice, the environment, and sustainable agriculture on family farms.

Taking the integration of social mission a step further than most companies, the company that brought you flavors like “Cherry Garcia” stretched language and business practice by developing business partnerships with nonprofit organizations.

The PartnerShop Program, begun in 1987, offers discounted Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop franchisee agreements, training, and support for nonprofit organizations. The franchisor waives the $30,000 franchise fee, exempts shops from the standard 3% royalty and provides training and specialized support from the Ben & Jerry’s field team. Nonprofit organizations get a nationally branded, social enterprise, the profits from which can help sustain their work in the community. The nonprofit franchisees are engaged in the education and training of young populations with barriers to employment.

“The PartnerShops are an asset to our franchise system as well as a fulfillment of our social mission,” says Leslie Halperin, PartnerShop Program Manager at Ben & Jerry’s. “In addition to providing a venue for nonprofits to accomplish their mission-related activities, PartnerShops provide well-trained employees that can be employed at traditional Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops.”

In addition to a revenue stream that enhances their sustainability, the nonprofit franchisees now also have a built-in system for successful first work experiences for the youth they serve (on average a shop trains 25-30 youth per year). The organizations also benefit from increased publicity and visibility for their various other workforce development activities.

There are currently 16 PartnerShops, with plans to double the outlets by 2005 and operate 50 shops by 2007 – at least one in every major retail market that Ben & Jerry’s serves.

“We often use local Workforce Investment Boards to identify entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations with human resources capacity and track records of success in building skills and employability among disadvantaged youth,” says Halperin. “Over time, we’ve learned how to better support our PartnerShop franchisees, and we’ve learned the importance of having an established and successful nonprofit organization who is ready to take on the hybrid model that is a social enterprise venture.”

For more information about Ben & Jerry’s PartnerShops, please contact Leslie Halperin at (802) 846-1500 or visit Partnershops.

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