While all 3 parts of Ben & Jerry’s Mission guide our corporate purpose, the Social Mission synthesizes our corporate vision:

Within both our domestic and international trade, we continue to seek out progressive, values-driven strategies and corporate practices that can be integrated throughout the company’s internal business operations as well as play a central role in our external relationships. Our strategic efforts target initiatives within the following focus areas:

To operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in the structure of society by initiating ways to improve the quality of life of a broad community, local. national and international.

Economic and Social Justice: We recognize that capitalism and the wealth it produces fail to provide opportunity for everyone equally. We look to create economic opportunities for those who have been denied them and to advance new models of economic justice that are sustainable and replicable.

• The Greyston Bakery, for example, which supplies brownies to Ben & Jerry’s for Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, trains low-income people for self-sufficiency by teaching job and social skills. Ben & Jerry’s is providing technical and training advice for their expanding business.
• Ben & Jerry’s PartnerShops are a form of social enterprise through which non-profit organizations leverage the power of business for community benefit. PartnerShops, for which Ben & Jerry’s waives the standard franchise fee, are scoop shops developed and operated by nonprofit organizations to provide entry level job training opportunities to people who face barriers to employment, offering experience in small retail business, job-readiness skills and preparation for future employment.

Eliminating Negative Impact on the Environment: By definition, the manufacturing of products creates waste. We strive to minimize our negative impact on the environment through projects focusing an environmentally innovative packaging (domestic and international), sustainable agricultural practices, and likeminded partnerships both with suppliers and mentoring non-profit organizations:

• In the area of packaging, for example, we continue to transition our volume to unbleached paper and maintain ongoing efforts to improve coatings as the next stage in creating a biodegradable pint.
• To further reduce negative environmental impact and adverse effects on water resources, Ben & Jerry’s initiated The Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project. This nonprofit organization focuses on developing practical methods to reduce the potential for phosphorus run-off and nitrogen leaching while maintaining the economic viability of the dairy farm.

Generosity toward the communities in which we do business: We strive to show respect for human beings inside and outside our company and for the communities in which they live:

• The Company divides its philanthropic pool of funds between the Foundation, Corporate Philanthropy, and employee Community Action Teams (CATs) at each Ben & Jerry’s manufacturing and administrative site in Vermont. CATs make small grants to community organizations within vermont and coordinate hands-on staff volunteerism to community-based projects and social change initiatives.