Ice Cream Wasn't Always The Plan For Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's has got to be one of the most iconic ice cream brands out there. Sold in over 40 countries around the world, the Vermont-based company has become synonymous with comfort, indulgence, and satisfying our sweet tooth's cravings. The business was sold in a $326 million deal in 2000, which is a pretty big feat for two hippies from New York. But before they were millionaires, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were just two young friends who wanted to open a store together – and ice cream wasn't actually the original plan. A fact you may not know about Ben & Jerry's is that its initial focus was nothing dessert-related at all — it was bagels.

When they first started scheming up a way to make money, Cohen and Greenfield first thought about starting a bagel company. The plan was to deliver loaded lox bagels on Sunday mornings, alongside a copy of The New York Times. However, the idea was axed when the pair discovered how expensive the equipment would be. Bagel shops are typically known for their low prices, but a lot goes into making them.

The equipment can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $75,000 today, which would have been a tall ask for two 27-year-olds. Instead, they enrolled in a correspondence course in ice cream-making from Penn State, which cost a meager total of $5, and the rest is history.

In 1978, Cohen and Greenfield each agreed to invest $4,000 into an ice cream store, with Cohen's father helping him out with his share. They got another $4,000 from the bank, and went about renovating an old gas station in Burlington, Vermont into a premium ice cream shop.

Their product, made with local cream and milk, was a hit, and they soon started to pack pints of ice cream to sell at stores around the area. The friends would deliver the pints in the back of Cohen's VW wagon, and within two years of starting out, they opened their first franchise.

More and more expansion followed until Ben & Jerry's became the dessert powerhouse we know today. Cohen and Greenfield never did revisit the bagel idea, but they did start stuffing their ice cream into bagels in 2018 to pay homage to their roots. The sweet bagel sandwiches were only a limited edition item for its London scoop shop; but who knows, maybe we'll see another version if business ever starts to slow!