SEATTLE, April 13, 2005 – The next time you’re in need of a jolt of java, Ben & Jerry’s coffee ice cream flavors promise to make you feel good inside and out.  Ben & Jerry’s continues its 27-year commitment to supporting positive social and environmental change by introducing three certifiably delicious coffee ice cream flavors now made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee extract.  The flavors – Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz and Coffee – will be featured at the Specialty Coffee Association of America show in Seattle on April 16.  

Fair Trade certification is making a positive difference in the global community by ensuring that small-scale farmers are paid a fair price for the harvests they work so hard to grow.  Under Fair Trade certification, farmers can more than double their incomes, helping them to afford basic needs such as education and healthcare for their families.  

The presence of the Fair Trade Certified™ logo on Ben & Jerry’s coffee ice cream pints means that TransFair USA, the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, monitored every step involved in sourcing the coffee to ensure the farmers really received a fair price for it.

Friend of the Farmers

“Ben & Jerry’s commitment to using Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients is both good news for struggling farmers and their families and a message to the food industry that Fair Trade is good for business,” said Paul Rice, Founder and CEO of TransFair USA. “Consumers care about quality.  Increasingly, they also care about where their food comes from and how the farmers who grew it were treated.  Ben & Jerry’s ice cream made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee delivers on both fronts.”

Ben & Jerry’s is the first ice cream maker in the United States to introduce coffee flavors made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee.

“By transitioning all of our coffee extract to Fair Trade Certified™, Ben & Jerry’s hopes to help increase incomes for coffee producers,” said Yola Carlough, Head of Social Mission for Ben & Jerry’s.  “With economic independence and empowerment come new opportunities for education, health, housing and employment, as well as the tools to sustain healthy communities and farms.  Displaying the Fair Trade Certified™ logo on our pints will hopefully help raise awareness among consumers about how their buying decisions can support positive change.  Fair Trade is synonymous with quality, and we are thrilled to add Fair Trade Certified™ ingredients to our already great-tasting coffee ice cream line.”

The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees farmers in developing countries were paid fairly for their crops.  One hundred percent of the price goes directly back to the Fair Trade co-op for distribution among the farmers.  

Flavors That Will Perk You Up

Whether you like your coffee ice cream crunchy, chunky or smooth, all of Ben & Jerry’s flavors now made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee are tantalizing to the taste buds and fair to the farmers.  Now that’s something to buzz about!

• Coffee Heath Bar Crunch – coffee ice cream, made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, with chunks of HEATH® Bar Crunch

• Coffee – creamy coffee ice cream made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee

• Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz – Coffee ice cream, made with Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, with espresso bean fudge chunks

Beginning in April, Ben & Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and Coffee flavors will be available at grocery and convenience stores across the country.  Suggested retail price per pint is $3.79.  Ben & Jerry’s Coffee and Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz flavors will be available in Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops.  

For more information about Fair Trade Certified™, and for the full scoop on all Ben & Jerry’s fabulous flavors, visit www.benjerry.com.

About Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using dairy products from a Vermont dairy cooperative and high-quality ingredients.  The company is committed to using milk and cream from cows that have not been treated with the synthetic hormone rBGH, and states its position on rBGH on its labels.  Ben and Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues.  

Ben & Jerry’s, a wholly-owned autonomous subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part mission statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community.  Ben & Jerry’s contributes a minimum of $1.1 million annually through corporate philanthropy that is primarily employee led.  Contributions made via the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 2001 totaled over $1.4 million.  Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation.  The purpose of Ben & Jerry’s philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities.  For the full scoop on all Ben & Jerry’s fabulous flavors, visit www.benjerry.com.  

About TransFair USA

TransFair USA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States.  Through regular visits to Fair Trade farmer cooperatives conducted by Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO), and partnerships with US companies, TransFair verifies that the farmers who produced Fair Trade Certified products were paid a fair price.  For more information about TransFair, visit www.fairtradecertified.org.