Paul Newman's Little-Known Connections To Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's is famous for its unique flavor combos, celebrity collaborations, and punny names. But one of the facts you may not know about Ben & Jerry's is its connection with the late Paul Newman. Newman, who created his Newman's Own brand in 1982, famously donated 100% of the after-tax profits of his products to charity.

Though the brand's line started with homemade salad dressing and expanded to include pasta sauces, frozen pizzas, popcorn, lemonade, and even pet food, it also briefly included ice cream. In 1998, Newman's Own Ice Cream was launched, with an assist from Ben & Jerry's. The charitable ice cream was manufactured at Ben & Jerry's Springfield, Vermont plant, and was also distributed and marketed by the company. Like other Newman's Own products, all post-tax profits were donated to charity.

The ice cream was sold in quarts and available in five flavors, which were developed by Newman and named by the actor and his friend, writer A. E. Hotchner: Milk Chocolate Mudbath, Obscene Vanilla Bean, Pistol Packin' Praline Pecan, Giddy Up Coffee, and Lovable Mint Chip. Unfortunately, this venture was short-lived, as the ice cream line was discontinued in 1999. However, later that same year, the company announced it had donated more than $100 million to charities since the start of the brand. Today, the company boasts more than $600 million in charitable giving to organizations that fund nutrition education, school food, food sovereignty, and Newman's own charities, including Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and SeriousFun Children's Network.

Ben & Jerry's also has a unique connection to the band Phish. The band was formed at the University of Vermont in Burlington, not far from Ben & Jerry's first ice cream shop. The ice cream company developed Phish Food in 1995 to pay tribute to the iconic band, and the band members were actually key parts of the process. The ice cream was launched in 1997 and consisted of chocolate ice cream swirled with caramel and marshmallow and dotted with fish-shaped chunks of chocolate fudge.

Despite the fact that it consistently remains one of the top ten Ben & Jerry's flavors, Phish Food was almost never created. Band members were staunchly against the idea of collaborating with corporations, but did care about contributing to charitable organizations. Ben & Jerry's had a long history of supporting grassroots organizations focused on racial justice, social equality, and the environment.

The band was inspired by the history of Newman's Own and decided that if they could use the profits from their Phish Food royalties to fund environmental causes, specifically ones in Vermont, it would be worth it to lend their name to the product. The band created its own foundation, WaterWheel Foundation, for that purpose. The first target of their charitable endeavors was cleaning up pollution in Lake Champlain, which runs along the borders of Vermont, New York, and Quebec. The members of Phish collaborated with Ben & Jerry's again in 2017 and 2018 for limited-edition flavors called Freezer Reprise and It's Ice...Cream. As of 2022, Phish has donated over $9 million dollars in ice cream royalties and fan contributions through its foundation, supporting over 500 nonprofit organizations, thanks in large part to the impact and legacy of Newman's Own.