Ben Cohen
Co-Founder, Ben & Jerry's · 2 appearances on the record.
computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →
founderexecutiveauthor@YoBenCohen ↗bensbest.com ↗Wikipedia ↗
Ben Cohen co-founded Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream alongside Jerry Greenfield in 1978, building it into a global brand renowned for innovative flavours and mission-driven corporate activism. A longtime advocate for progressive social causes, he launched the nonprofit cannabis company Ben's Best Blnz (B3) in 2023 to fund criminal justice reform and support Black entrepreneurs.
22statements → 15claims → 11claims resolved → 91%fully supported → 4.05/5average certainty → 1.09/5average debate potential → 22said about them ↓
10 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 4 not checkable as stated how the 15 claims stand · each chip opens the sources
15 assertions · 3 insights · 3 disclosures · 1 what if · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 15 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 11 are resolved, and 4 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.
The record, in short
What the tape says about how Ben argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.
Expressed certainty vs assessment result
weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet
How they sound: not measured why? →
We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Ben Cohen on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.
Everything Ben Cohen said on How I Built This that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →
Unilever must maintain Ben & Jerry's activism to preserve brand equity
“You know, if Unilever bought a brand and bought the goodwill that goes along with that brand and bought the reputation that goes along with that brand, they need to continue those activities in order to keep that brand strong.”
Ben & Jerry's would not have succeeded if founded in New York
“I think if we had started in New York, we never would have gained the local following that we gained in Vermont. In Vermont, it would, we could be A bigger fish in a smaller pond.”
Founders split a single $5 ice cream-making correspondence course
“Five dollars. We split one between the two of us.”
Commercial machinery initially prevented ice cream brands from adding large chunks
“The difference is that no commercial ice creams were packaging ice cream like that, and as we discovered, the reason why they weren't doing it is because the machinery, the commercial ice cream machinery, was not designed to be able to handle large chunks.”
Scoop shop portion control uniquely alienates customers at the counter
“In every business except for ice cream, the portions are controlled in the back. Out of sight of the customer. And when you're scooping ice cream, you're supposed to control the portion inside of the customer, and if the scoop is too big, you're supposed to ta…”
Founders put Ben & Jerry's up for sale in the 1980s
“Our reaction to that was to sell the business, and we actually put it up for sale. This was early on. This was in the eighties.”
Ben & Jerry's sourced from Greyston Bakery for its social mission
“That, that, that's our project with the Greyston Bakery and deliberately choosing to use this ingredient supplier because this particular ingredient supplier was driven by a social mission of providing employment opportunities for formerly unemployable people.”
The Cherry Garcia ice cream flavor was inspired by a fan's postcard
“We got a postcard that said, we're both deadheads, and we're also Ben and Jerry's fans, and we think you ought to come out with a flavor called Cherry Garcia, because it would be a real hoot for the fans, and dead paraphernalia always sells.”
Cohen and Greenfield split a $5 Penn State ice cream correspondence course
“Five dollars. We split one between the two of us.”
Cohen: Commercial ice cream lacked large chunks due to machinery limitations
“No commercial ice creams. We're packaging ice cream like that, and as we discovered, the reason why they weren't doing it is because the machinery The commercial ice cream machinery was not designed to be able to handle large chunks. So all you would get would…”
SBA mentor advised Ben & Jerry's to ask for a loan moratorium
“He was an old guy named Manny, and, ah, he said, well, just tell him you can't pay your loan right now, that you can pay it, you know, when the weather turns. You know, they'll, they'll, they'll like, just let you pay interest. And we went to the bank, and we …”
Cohen: Ice cream faces unique retail portion control friction
“In every business except for ice cream, the portions are controlled in the back. Out of sight of the customer, and when you're scooping ice cream, you're supposed to control the portion inside of the customer, and if the scoop is too big, you're supposed to ta…”
Ben & Jerry's founders put the company up for sale in 1980s
“Our reaction to that was to sell the business, and we actually put it up for sale. This was early on. This was in the eighties.”
Founders researched starting Ben & Jerry's using 30 SBA pamphlets
“We sent away for 30 SBA pamphlets that cost between 15 cents a And three dollars per on all the different aspects of running a business.”
Founders avoided warm college towns due to existing ice cream competition
“We figured we had a better chance of success if we opened up in a place where there wasn't much competition. And originally we were looking for warm, rural college towns, and all the warm ones already had ice cream. So, you know, as we went further and further…”
Ben & Jerry's discounted winter cones based on freezing temperatures
“For every degree below zero Celsius which is 32 degrees Fahrenheit you got a penny off the price of your cone, which was significant at the time because a cone cost 52 cents.”
First unconventional flavors were Oreo Mint and Heath Bar Crunch
“You know, the first two flavors that we did that were not your normal ones were Oreo Mint and Heath Bar Crunch.”
Bank granted loan moratorium to save Ben & Jerry's first winter
“And we went to the bank, and we said that, and they said, sure, no problem. Just pay interest, and, you know, we'll extend the loan, and that got us through.”
Cohen and Greenfield learned business basics using 30 cheap SBA pamphlets
“We sent away for 30 SBA pamphlets that cost between 15 cents and three dollars per on all the different aspects of
Running a business.”
A Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone cost 52 cents at launch
“For every degree below zero Celsius which is 32 degrees Fahrenheit you got a penny off the price of your cone, which was significant at the time because a cone cost 52 cents.”
Ben Cohen dropped out of multiple colleges and alternative programs
“And then I finally joined the University Without Walls, which was the most unstructured college program at the time. The idea was that the whole world was your campus, and you go out there and learn whatever you wanted to learn, and then you come back. To this…”
The other half of the tape: Ben Cohen's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 8 times in 5 episodes on How I Built This. 14 statements on the record name them. every mention, with the transcript →
Who brings them up most Guy Raz 4Chris Mann 4
Statements about Ben Cohen, by other people (14)
Ice cream eaters prefer big chunks over evenly distributed pieces
“So I was arguing for having a larger number of smaller chunks that were well distributed throughout the ice cream. And, you know, Ben was saying, no, what people want, and this is what Ben wanted, of course, but what people want is a really big chunk, and they…”
Founders invented chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
“But it wasn't always a classic flavor, because in fact, it was invented by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in that tiny little shop in Burlington in the 19 eighties.”
Founders altered early business projections when numbers showed failure
“When we first wrote out and figured out our projections for how much ice cream we would sell and how much it would cost, the projections told us that We weren't going to sell enough ice cream to stay in business. So we just changed the projections.”
Founders declined seats on the post-acquisition social mission board
“There was going to continue to be an independent board in the new entity that oversaw the social mission, and I think Ben and I could have remained on that board, and we both chose not to.”
Greenfield: Ice cream eaters prefer occasional large chunks over evenly distributed small ones
“So I was arguing for having a larger number of smaller chunks that were well distributed throughout the ice cream, and you know, Ben was saying, No, what people want, and this is what Ben wanted, of course, but what people want is a really big chunk, and they …”
Venture funds linked to Ben & Jerry's founders invested $300,000 in Guayakí
“And it turned out when they sold to Unilever, they created two small venture fund, two, five million dollar funds, one run by Pierre Ferrari called hot fudge and one run by Chuck Lacey called Bardrock. And so they were both our first bigger investor, bigger me…”
Ben & Jerry's pivoted from bagels because equipment was unaffordable
“We thought about picking a food That was becoming popular in big cities, but had not yet been brought to a college town. And at that time, the foods we thought about were bagels and homemade ice cream. So we went to a used restaurant supply store to price out …”
Founders' initial goal was to make $20,000 a year each
“Our goal when we opened was to make 20,000 dollars a year apiece.”
Founders copied a pizzeria business plan to secure bank financing
“Ben and I pretty much copied that business plan, except every place where it said slice of pizza, we crossed it out and we wrote an ice cream cone.”
Free Cone Day was created because founders expected business to fail
“It was actually during that first winter when Ben and I came up with the idea of Free Cone Day, that if we were still in business after a year, we would celebrate and treat all our customers by giving out free ice cream, because we thought it was so unlikely t…”
Cohen and Greenfield refused to serve on Unilever's social mission board
“There was going to continue to be an independent board in the new entity that oversaw the social mission, and I think Ben and I could have Remained on that board, and we both chose not to.”
Ben & Jerry's created Free Cone Day because they expected to fail
“First winter when Ben and I came up with the idea of free cone day, that if we were still in business after a year, we would celebrate and treat all our customers by giving out free ice cream because we thought it was so unlikely that we would still be in busi…”
Every mention by year
tap a year for its mentions
2026 1 mention in 1 episode
2022 4 mentions in 1 episode
2021 1 mention in 1 episode
2018 1 mention in 1 episode
2017 1 mention in 1 episode
Appearances (2)
| Episode | Date | Speaking time |
|---|---|---|
| Ben & Jerry's: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield (2017) | Mar 23, 2020 | 15m |
| Ben & Jerry's: Ben Cohen And Jerry Greenfield | Nov 20, 2017 | 16m |