Ben & Jerry’s is rolling out a new ice cream flavor called “Change is Brewing” that includes a key ingredient from Iowa.
Chris Miller, with Ben & Jerry’s, says the flavor is designed to support a public safety bill in the U.S. House to increase funding in youth programs and to fight mental health problems and substance abuse. “It’s part of this sort of campaign and work to reimagine public safety and this work around racial justice,” Miller says. “We put some intentionality behind the flavor.”
The ice cream includes marshmallow swirls, fudge brownies and coffee from a company based in Des Moines. “It has this cold-brew coffee base from a black-owned coffee company in Iowa called Black and Bold,” Miller says. “It also has brownies from a supplier we’ve been working with for many years called the Greyston Bakery based in Yonkers, New York, and it has a policy of open hiring.”
Miller says a portion of the sales will support two grassroots groups working on public safety issues: Mothers Against Police Brutality and Sisters For Justice. Miller says Black and Bold is a “social enterprise” which, like Ben & Jerry’s, is a company with a mission.
“Black and Bold is a great addition to our portfolio of what we refer to as values-led suppliers,” he says. “Every dollar we spend purchasing ingredients is an opportunity to engage other companies and suppliers that are values-aligned and Black and Bold is a great example of that approach.”
Miller says the vision for the flavor is to reimagine a new way of creating healthy and safe communities.