Case summary
Ben & Jerry is a company that is involved in the manufacture of ice cream and it is a distributor in the UK, the US, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, as well as other nations. It is a company that has been committed to ensuring customer satisfaction. It has been involved in a number of activities that it carries out to deliver customer rights, despite the fact that the company was taken over by Unilever in the year 2000.
Ben & Jerry has continued to grow under the ownership of Unilever. It has continued to execute its corporate social responsibility activities. Among the activities it has continued to advocate for include the supply of healthy foods to the citizens. For instance, the company has been against the Obama administration’s idea of introducing genetically engineered foods.
It feels that genetically modified food is not healthy food for the citizens, thus it has collaborated with other groups with a similar opinion to advocate for the same. In addition, the company has been an advocate of a green environment. Global warming is an issue that has become a serious issue. Many organizations, as well as government and social leaders have been advocating for a green environment.
Ben & Jerry is one of such organizations that have been supportive of the use of clean energy that produces less or no greenhouse gas. For instance, its truck fleet uses renewable energy from Native Energy, an energy provider located in Vermont. Its social responsibility has been among the factors that have helped in building the corporate image of Ben & Jerry, thereby giving it a competitive advantage.
Ben & Jerry advocacy for sustainable consumption
Ben & Jerry is a company that has been highly supportive of sustainable consumption and has used a number of approaches to achieve this. The company believes in sustainable consumption and has continued living by this philosophy, despite being taken over by Unilever.
For instance, the founders of Ben & Jerry went to study how ice cream is produced before the company started producing ice cream to ensure they would produce good ice cream for consumption. They did not use scientific tests to test the ice cream flavors. Instead, they tested original flavors by giving people to taste and then rating the ice cream.
Another way through which the company has continued to support sustainable consumption is by opposing the Obama administration in its bid to introduce genetically engineered food. It did this by creating a ‘Something’s Fishy’ flavor. It is a flavor that the company used to express its opposition to the US Food and Drug Administration’s decision to allow genetically engineered salmon into the US food supply.
In addition, the company joined hands with the public outside the White House to press the Obama administration to block the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the genetically engineered food.
According to its website, Ben & Jerry is committed to speaking out against unhealthy food, as well as other policies that may be against sustainable consumption. Its support for a green environment is also supportive of sustainable consumption. The company supports a green environment by advocating for energy that does not produce a lot of greenhouse gas.
Business involvement in advocating causes like marriage equality
Business organizations are formed with the major objective of making profits. Therefore, all business activities should be focused on maximizing revenue and minimizing expenses as much as possible. Other activities that do not generate income are viewed as not being important for business organizations. Many economists and sociologists air their views on businesses being socially responsible.
These are activities that do not generate income to the business, yet they are expenses. Advocating for causes like marriage equality can be viewed or classified as a social responsibility for the businesses. It shows the businesses’ concern for humanity.
While businesses do not make any direct income from such causes, cause-related marketing may help in creating a brand image, which gives the business a competitive advantage. Therefore, I am supportive of cause-related marketing and I feel that business organizations should embrace it, as it will be beneficial in creating a brand image.
The other cause by Ben & Jerry
The other cause that the company has been involved in is animal cloning by advocating against animal cloning. This happened in the year 2008 when the FDA approved that the sale of milk from cloned animals is safe. In opposition to this, Ben & Jerry started a campaign that was aimed at creating awareness to the public regarding cloned animals.
The company started enlightening the citizens who were ignorant about the legal issues associated with cloning animals. In doing so, it launched a company to support the cause. The company that was known as Cyclone Dairy conducted street sampling in a bid to help the people realize the cloning facts and to ask the Congress to establish a DNA-based tracking system in a bid to stop the sale of milk from cloned animals.