MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. has announced plans to test-market a new line of organic ice cream in two major U.S. cities, tentatively promising to use as much organic milk as Vermont farmers can provide.
Chrystie Heimert, the company’s director of public relations, said Ben & Jerry’s would launch the organic flavors in San Francisco and Boston in mid- to late July.
Four flavors have been developed: vanilla, strawberry, cookies and cream, and chocolate fudge brownie. The organic lines will be sold in scoop shops and natural foods stores in both cities.
The company may offer organic flavors in its Vermont shops as well, although a final decision has not been made. Heimert said if all went well, Ben & Jerry’s hoped to take the organic line to scoop shops and other retail outlets nationwide as early as next June.
State Agriculture Secretary Stephen Kerr welcomed the news of a new market for organic milk. Farmers are paid about $20 a hundredweight for organic milk – significantly higher than the $12.50 or so per hundredweight for non-organic milk.
There are only about 60 organic dairy farmers in Vermont. About 70 more dairy farmers have expressed an interest in supplying milk, but the transition from traditional dairying to organic requires time and commitment.
“The supply is the problem, in the sense there isn’t enough organic milk to go around,” Kerr said. “There is more supply coming on, but that doesn’t help Ben & Jerry’s today.”
Sen. James Jeffords, I-Vt., wrote to executives of Unilever United States Inc., Ben & Jerry’s parent company, in April to urge them to use Vermont organic milk in any new organic line.
“With your leadership, combined with the commitment and mission of Ben & Jerry’s, I believe we can develop a plan to promote an initiative that can serve as a positive solution to the crisis in the Vermont dairy industry,” he wrote.
Staffs for Jeffords and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., as well as Rep. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., met Tuesday in Vermont with Ben & Jerry’s officials to discuss the issue of milk supply.
Both sides expressed a commitment to ensuring that as much Vermont organic milk as possible would be used in production. Initial batches of the organic line were made from a blend of organic milk that included Vermont supply, Heimert said.
AP-ES-06-04-03 1717EDT
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