...Introduction • Founded by two Brooklyn school mates Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in Vermont, 1978. • Combination of high fat content, chunky ingredients and catchy flavor names helped to create its own demand. • Sales grew with time and the company went public in 1984. • Besides being a fun company, it was determined to be socially responsible with an objective of caring capitalism. • By 1994, sales exceeded $150million and the company had 600 employees with a global distribution network. • However, 1994 actually brought loss and net income suffered. • In 1995, the company’s sales started to increase with a substantial rise in net income. • By 1997, Ben and Jerry’s was doing well but slow growth and retreating market share was an issue. • Japan was being considered for future expansion. Current Strategy • Focused Differentiation - To make, distribute and sell the finest quality, all natural ice cream. - Socially responsible company known for its caring capitalism. Problem Statement Given that the company has declining profits and is losing its market share in both total ice cream market and super premium market……… • Should Ben and Jerry’s enter the Japan market in summer 2008? • If yes, then how should they perform the market entry, through Seven-Eleven Japan or collaboration with Ken Yamada? External Analysis Industry Structure • Ice cream industry is categorized...
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...Finance VII Cases in Finance Executive Team Summaries (3-4 pages) 1. Introduction a. Main facts of the case: Ben & Jerry is being a victim of a hostile takeover. Because they aren’t reaching their full potential. They’ve been increasing their revenues, but, with a slower rate than their main competitors, making them nearly mediocre. They have a very strong commitment with the community, with social responsible programs and with organizations like Greenpeace. b. Most important Characteristics of the company studied in the case i. Industry FOOD Industry ii. Position in its industry Medium-Low iii. Main competitors Dreyer’s, Eskimo Pie, TCBY & Yocream. 2. Answer the Questions presented at the end of the 1st session and reviewed and answered in the second session. A- Why Ben & Jerry became target of a takeover? Because Ben & Jerry has not generated the returns and has not increased the shareholders wealth at the level that is expected from this company. 3. Analysis of Financial Information (Exhibits) c. What information do the exhibits present? In the exhibit 1 shows an increase on sales and a reduction to their long-term debt but it doesn’t represent their full potential. Exhibit 2 shows the highs & lows of Ben & Jerry comparing them with their close competition in those years. Exhibit 3 and Exhibit 4 show just some information referring to different things about internal...
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...Ben & Jerry’s Analysis By:Group 2 The case presented on Ben & Jerry’s Homemade ice-cream is complex and produces a considerable amount of deliberation. In the following pages we hope to give you a synopsis of Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield, as well as the company they created, while attempting to carefully construct answers to the questions posed on specific issues raised by Mr. Brasel in the power point slides he provided to the class. The history of Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield can be dated back to when the men first met in the seventh grade. Both Cohen and Greenfield grew up in Merrick, Long Island and quickly became friends during Junior high school. After high school, Jerry finished college. His goal was to attend medical school to become a doctor, but he could not get in. (benjerry.com). On the other hand, Ben applied and was accepted to several colleges, but always dropped out of them. The beginnings for the development of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade were launched in 1977 from the front porch of Jerry’s parent’s house. Neither Ben nor Jerry knew anything about running or opening a business, but both men knew about food and shared the great passion of eating. They pondered on what type of business they would start. The men came across an AD in the local newspaper for an ice-cream-making course offered through a local college. There was a $5 fee associated with the course. Due to the extreme poverty...
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...the creation of a relationship that allows the client to perceive, understand, and act on the process events that occur within an organization in order to improve the situation as defined by the client (Cummings & Worley, pg. 253). In the case involving Ben and Jerry’s a consultant was brought in to work with the founders, board of directors, managers, and employees in order to undertake organizational development and also to bring the people, functions, aspirations, and directions together (Cummings & Worley, pg. 306). Schein proposes ten principles to guide process consultant’s actions: • Always try to be helpful • Always stay in touch with the current reality • Access your ignorance • Everything you do is an intervention • The client owns the problem and the solution • Go with the flow • Timing is crucial • Be constructively opportunistic with confrontive interventions • Everything is information; errors will always occur and are the prime source for learning • When in doubt, share the problem (Cummings & Worley, pg. 254). As the consultant in this case dove into the workings of Ben & Jerry’s these principles were apparent throughout the case. After spending time with the board, and interviewing key managers and staff at Ben & Jerry’s, the consultant concluded that the company had much strength and also some concerns. It was decided that while the leadership was seen as the company’s greatest strength, they were also seen and its greatest weakness. As a result...
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...MARKETING PLAN BEN & JERRY’S 2012-2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. CURENT COMPANY SITUATION……………………………………. 2 2. MISSION STATEMENT………………………………………………….3 3. MARKET SHARE INFORMATION…………………………………….3-6 4. MARKET ANALYSIS……………………………………………………6-8 5. MARKET COMPETITORS……………………………………………. 8-11 6. NEW PRODUCT……………………………………………………….. 11-12 7. FUTURE MARKETING STRATEGY………………………………… 12-15 8. FINANCIAL FORECAST……………………………………………….15-17 9. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………. 17 10. LIST OF REFERENCES…………………………………………… 18-19 1. CURENT COMPANY SITUATION 1.1 Short History Ben & Jerry’s it’s an American company, producing super-premium ice cream that was founded in 1978 through the collaboration of two friends: Ben Coben and Jerry Greenfield. The two began the business by opening a shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, in 1984 following the first factory to be opened. The company’s product range is plentiful with several flavors including cream, frozen yogurt or sherbet, made with natural ingredients. 1.2. Ben & Jerry’s Today In April 2000, Ben & Jerry's sold the company to British-Dutch multinational food giant Unilever. With superior marketing techniques Ben and Jerry's has positioned themselves to be the leader in manufacturing premium ice cream products. They have successfully targeted their market, and there...
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...Jer ry: Ben: Jerry: Ben: Jerry : Ben: What's interest ing abo ut me a nd my role in the company is, I'm j ust this guy on the street. A pe rson who 's fai rly conventional , mainstream. accepting of life as it is. Salt ofthe earth. A man of the pe opl e. But then I'v e go t this friend , B en, who challenges everything. It' s against his nature to do anything the same wa y any one 's ever do ne it befo re. To which my response is always , " I don 't think that'll wo rk." To which my response is always, "How do we know till we try ?" So I get to go through this leading -edge, risk -takin g exp erience with Beneven tho ugh I' m really ju st like everyo ne else. The perfect duo. le e cream and chunks. Business and social chonge. Ben and Jerry. • - Be n & Jer ry 's Double Dip , As Henry Morgan's plane passed over the snow-covered hills of Vermont' s dairy land, throngh his mind passed the events of the last few months. It was late January 2000. Morgan, the retired dean of Boston University'Sbusiness school, knew well the trip to Burlington. As a member of the board of directors of Ben & Jerry's Homemade over the past This case was preparedby Professor Michael J. Schill with researchassistancefrom D aniel Burke. VernHines. Sangyeon Hwang, Won sang Kim, Vincente Ladinez, andTyrone Taylor. It was written as a basis forclass discus sion rathe than to illustrat effectiveor ineffectivehandlingof an administrative situation Copyright 0 2001 by r e . the University of Virginia Darden...
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...UV0273 BEN & JERRY’S HOMEMADE Jerry: What’s interesting about me and my role in the company is I’m just this guy on the street. A person who’s fairly conventional, mainstream, accepting of life as it is. Ben: Salt of the earth. A man of the people. Jerry: But then I’ve got this friend, Ben, who challenges everything. It’s against his nature to do anything the same way anyone’s ever done it before. To which my response is always, “I don’t think that’ll work.” Ben: To which my response is always, “How do we know until we try?” Jerry: So I get to go through this leading-edge, risk-taking experience with Ben—even though I’m really just like everyone else. Ben: The perfect duo. Ice cream and chunks. Business and social change. Ben and Jerry. —Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip As Henry Morgan’s plane passed over the snow-covered hills of Vermont’s dairy land, through his mind passed the events of the last few months. It was late January 2000. Morgan, the retired dean of Boston University’s business school, knew well the trip to Burlington. As a member of the board of directors of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade for the past 13 years, Morgan had seen the company grow both in financial and social stature. The company was now not only an industry leader in the super-premium ice cream market, but also commanded an important leadership position in a variety of social causes from the dairy farms of Vermont to the rainforests of South America. Increased competitive...
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...Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. – B: Facing Acquisition Abstract In December 1999 Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenberg confronted three offers for their 17-year-old firm. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. had grown from $2M in 1983 to $237M as the year ended. Growth rates had significantly dampened, however, a result of changing U.S. consumer preferences for lower cholesterol foods and competition. Jerry Greenberg had stepped out of day-to-day management of the firm some years before. Ben Cohen stepped back in 1994 when the firm incurred its first ever loss. He turned the helm over to Robert Holland, the first African-American to head a major U.S. firm. Holland came to the Ben & Jerry’s CEO position after a national search. His background as a McKinsey consultant and turnaround artist stood the firm in good stead. His moves concentrated on improving profitability, turning around a new plant that more than doubled the company’s manufacturing capacity, strengthening the depth of management experience in the top team, and responding to the demand for low-cholesterol with the introduction of a sorbet line. However Holland stepped out of the firm after almost 18 months with observers suggesting that he had felt uncomfortable with the founders’ “clowning and campaigning.” Perry Odak, Ben & Jerry’s next CEO, came with extensive consumer marketing experience in companies such as Armour-Dial. However, he had also been COO of U.S. Repeating Arms. Given the founder’s strong emphasis...
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...MBA 653: Organizational Behavior Ben & Jerry Case Executive Summary In the past three decades, Ben & Jerry’s has made a transition from a local ice cream maker into a large multinational corporation. The unique history and culture has made Ben & Jerry’s brand into a social icon. The core values and mission of the company have been defined as three interrelated parts in Ben & Jerry’s mission statement. The ever changing market has posed constant challenges to Ben & Jerry’s, which calls for a comprehensive strategy that addresses the competitive difficulties, while allowing Ben & Jerry’s to remain consistent with its mission and background. This report analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of Ben & Jerry’s organizational design during this transitional period in terms of its culture, social mission, marketing, competition, product development, manufacturing and distribution. We recommend that Ben & Jerry’s continues to strive in the global business market by taking following actions: protect the brand name while maintaining core cultural values, continue social activism at a local level, while exercising caution in the overtly politically arena, develop products that remain true to their roots, while using the new resources available from Unilever, and adopt a Lean manufacturing and distribution platform. Analysis Following the merger with Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s faces challenges as it navigates within a larger corporation while...
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...FREEZING OUT BEN & JERRY: CORPORATE LAW AND THE SALE OF A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE ICON Antony Page* & Robert A. Katz**† INTRODUCTION The perfect duo. Ice cream and chunks. Business and social change. Ben and Jerry.1 Nobody wants to end up like Ben and Jerry’s, where soon after a multinational acquired it, key facets of its social mission were cut from the company.2 Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. was once the darling of proponents of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship.3 It was a for-profit corporation that seemingly did not put profits first. Rather, it pursued, in the parlance, a “double bottom” line, seeking to advance progressive social goals, while still yielding an acceptable financial return for investors. It advanced its social mission in many ways, such as by committing 7.5% of its profits to a charitable foundation; conducting in-store voter registration; and buying ingredients from suppliers who employed disadvantaged populations.4 Ben & Jerry’s founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, held out their double bottom line approach (they called it the “double-dip”) as a model for others who wished to “Lead With [their] Values and Make Money, Too.”5 * Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis. ** Professor of Law at Indiana University School of Law—Indianapolis and Professor of Philanthropic Studies at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy. † Thanks to the organizers of the symposium “Corporate Creativity: The Vermont L3C & Other...
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...Company Description Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company owned by Unilever that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet and ice cream novelty products. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. was founded in 1978 and is currently based in South Burlington, Vermont. From the company’s inception more than thirty years ago, their plan was to provide quality ice cream while also creating a company that was socially conscious about the world and its environment. Ben and Jerry’s currently have 346 scoop shops across 25 countries all around the world, with countries like the UK, US and India some of the countries they operate in. Apart from these establishments, products are also distributed to supermarkets and convenience stores globally. Ben and Jerry’s benefited heavily from the merger with Unilever by leveraging on Unilever’s global reach. Operating in the highly competitive premium ice cream industry, product innovation is crucial to satisfy changing consumer needs. Ben and Jerry’s integrate product quality with social and environmental responsibility whilst still enjoying economic success. It donates 7.5% of pretax profits to the Ben and Jerry’s foundation for philanthropic causes and uses only Free trade certified ingredients in an effort to give back to the community. In 2000, Ben and Jerry’s was purchased by Unilever. Despite the merger, Ben & Jerry’s continues with its commitment towards sustainability. The Caring Dairy programme was recognized with Good...
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...10/18/2012 Ben & Jerry’s - Japan 1. Overview of the case * Perry Odak had meeting with Masahiko Iida who is the president of Seven-Eleven Japan to resolve conundrum of whether to introduce Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to the Japan market and, if so, how. Ben & Jerry’s was established by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who were school mates before, when they were in mid 20s. They were growing between 1982 and 1990 but they had suffered with their net income from 1993 to 1994 when their sales exceeded $150 million. Haagen-Dazs was the only major competitor in the super-premium ice cream market where Ben & Jerry’s was in. Ben & Jerry’s was very slow with embracing foreign market. The company only had foreign sales of $6 million, with total sales of $174 million. In the super-premium ice cream sales, Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s were still the leading brands, but Haagen-Dazs was above Ben & Jerry’s. Now Ben & Jerry’s is trying to focus on market opportunities in Japan where Haagen-Dazs already had managed to capture nearly half the super-premium market in. Ben & Jerry’s is facing some difficulties with requests or changing their strategies by getting into the market in Japan. 2. Identification and Analysis of the Key Issues of the Case. * The reason for the decision of Ben & Jerry’s getting into Japan’s market is because Japan is the second biggest ice cream market with a big possibility. With the fact, Ben & Jerry’s...
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...Ben & Jerry’s Market Research Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Opening Page ................................................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Background..................................................................................................................................................... 3 4.1 Market and Brand of Choice.................................................................................................................... 3 4.2 Ice Cream Market Issues ......................................................................................................................... 3 4.3 Important Issues about the Brand ............................................................................................................ 4 4.4 Pricing in Ben & Jerry's........................................................................................................................... 5 4.5 Market Segmentation............................................................................................................................... 6 4.6 Market Demand .....
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...FIN 689 Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Case 3 Ang Xiao Case Study: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade (Case 3) This case focuses on the issues of asset control of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc with the four outstanding takeover offers by Dreyer’s Grand, Unilever, Meadowbrook Lane Capital and Chartwell Investment in 2001. Through the analysis of the four offers, I suggest the Board accept the Unilever’s offer. The advantage and disadvantage of each offer is discussed following. Dreyer’s Grand The offer does not maximize the shareholders wealth but retain the management philosophy. It is the best offer for Ben & Jerry’s management since the management team is maintained. In addition, Dreyer’s was also involved in community-service activities. It implies that the social drive will be strengthened after the acquisition offered by Dreyer’s Grand. However, the $31 per share offer is much less attractive than other rest offers from the shareholders perspective. In stock transaction, Ben & Jerry will share the synergy risk with the Dreyer’s Grand. Unilever The offer maximizes the shareholders wealth but disturbs the management philosophy. Unilever, as a profit oriented organization, may not encourage the philanthropy that is so important to B&J. There is a threat over the management philosophy. However, Unilever maintain select members of B&J management team. The select management team may influence policies to some extent. FIN 689 Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Case 3 Ang Xiao The offer with...
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...Ben & Jerry’s Market Research Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Opening Page ................................................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Background..................................................................................................................................................... 3 4.1 Market and Brand of Choice.................................................................................................................... 3 4.2 Ice Cream Market Issues ......................................................................................................................... 3 4.3 Important Issues about the Brand ............................................................................................................ 4 4.4 Pricing in Ben & Jerry's........................................................................................................................... 5 4.5 Market Segmentation............................................................................................................................... 6 4.6 Market Demand .....
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