Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Ice Cream Vermont

Ben & Jerry’s began in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, USA, started by two childhood friends, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

They wanted to build a business together that was fun, simple, and community-focused. With only about $12,000, they took a $5 ice cream making course from Penn State University and opened their first small ice cream shop in a renovated gas station. They made thick, creamy ice cream with big chunks of cookies, brownies, and fruit—something that was different from most ice cream at the time.

Their shop quickly became popular because of its unique flavors and creative ideas. As the business grew, they expanded into grocery stores across the U.S., keeping their Vermont roots and playful style. Over time, Ben & Jerry’s also became known for supporting social causes and fair trade ingredients, not just ice cream.

Today, it is one of the most famous ice cream brands in the world, but it still keeps the same idea from the beginning: fun flavors, quality ingredients, and a small hometown spirit that grew big.

Something a lot of people don’t know about Ben & Jerry’s is that the company almost didn’t use ice cream at all at the start in the way people think today.

When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield first began in 1978, they actually planned to make bagels and other bakery products, not ice cream. But equipment for bagels was too expensive, so they chose ice cream instead because it was cheaper to start.

🍦 Popular & cool flavors

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 🍪 – vanilla ice cream loaded with cookie dough chunks
• Half Baked 🍫🍪 – mix of cookie dough + brownie batter ice cream
• Cherry Garcia 🍒 – cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes
• Chunky Monkey 🍌🍫 – banana ice cream with walnuts and chocolate chunks
• Chocolate Fudge Brownie 🍫 – rich chocolate ice cream with brownie pieces
• Strawberry Cheesecake 🍓 – strawberry ice cream with cheesecake bits and graham swirl
• Netflix & Chill’d 🍿🥨 – peanut butter ice cream with sweet & salty mix-ins
• The Tonight Dough 🍪🍫 – caramel and chocolate ice cream with cookie dough + brownie pieces
• Americone Dream 🍦🍯 – vanilla ice cream with caramel swirl and waffle cone pieces

Flavors named after people

• Cherry Garcia 🍒
  Named after Jerry Garcia, guitarist and singer of the band Grateful Dead.
  One of their most famous flavors.
• The Tonight Dough 🍪🍫
  Inspired by Jimmy Fallon (host of The Tonight Show).
  It includes cookie dough and brownie ice cream.
• Karamel Sutra 🍫🍮
  Not a person name, but it was created with actress Uma Thurman involved in promotion and launch events.
• Americone Dream 🍦🍯
  Created with comedian Stephen Colbert.
  Features vanilla ice cream with caramel and waffle cone pieces.
  

  *Ben & Jerry’s often partners with celebrities to create flavors that also support charity causes, meaning part of the money goes to social programs.