In 1977, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield took a course on ice cream making at Pennsylvania State University. On May 5, 1978, they opened a first ice cream shop. It was in a gas station in Burlington, Vermont. One year later, they had the first free cone day. This is now a celebration all over the world.
In 1980, Ben and Jerry got space in a building in South Champlain Street in Burlington. They started packing their ice cream in pint containers. This is still the most common size of container. In 1981, the first Ben & Jerry’s store opened in Shelburne, Vermont. In 1983, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was used to make“the world’s largest ice cream sundae” in St. Albans, Vermont. The sundae weighed 27,102 pounds. In 1986, Ben & Jerry’s made its “Cowmobile”. This was a Ben and Jerry’s van. It was used to pass out free ice cream. The Cowmobile was driven by Ben and Jerry themselves. Four months later, the “Cowmobile” caught fire near Cleveland. Ben said it looked like “the world’s biggest baked Alaska.” In 1988, Ben and Jerry’s won the title of U.S Small Business Persons Of The Year awarded by U.S. PresidentRonald Reagan.
Ben and Jerry's ice cream are sold in pints, pint slices, non-dairy pints, scoop shop flavors, frozen yogurt pints, mini cups and quarts. Top ten flavors:
