www abdopublishing com Published by Abdo Publishing a division of ABDO PO Box 398166 Minneapolis Minnesota 55439 Copyright 2015 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Checkerboard Library is a trademark and logo of Abdo Publishing Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 052014 092014 Cover Photos Getty Images Interior Photos Alamy pp 15 20 AP Images pp 7 8 11 16 19 21 25 courtesy Ben Jerry’s Homemade Inc p 13 Corbis pp 9 22 Getty Images pp 1 5 26 Photolibrary p 24 Series Coordinator BreAnn Rumsch Editors Tamara L Britton BreAnn Rumsch Art Direction Cover Design Neil Klinepier Library of Congress Control Number 2014941018 Mattern Joanne 1963 Ben Jerry ice cream manufacturers Joanne Mattern p cm Food dudes ISBN 978-1-62403-491-6 1 Cohen Ben Ben R Juvenile literature 2 Greenfield Jerry Juvenile literature 3 Ben Jerry’s Firm Juvenile literature 4 Ice cream industry United States History Juvenile literature 5 Businessmen United States Biography Juvenile literature I Title II Title Ben and Jerry HD9281 U54B466 2015 338 7’63740922 dc23 B 2014941018
Contents Born in Brooklyn 4 A New Friendship 6 School Days 8 Drifting Around 10 A Tasty Idea 12 Off to Vermont 14 Hard Work 16 Scooping Success 18 Pint-Sized Plan 20 Giving Back 22 Later Life 26 Timeline 28 The Flavor Scoop 29 Glossary 30 Websites 31 Index 32
Ben Jerry Ice Cream Manufacturers Born in Brooklyn Ben Jerry’s Homemade ice cream has been pleasing customers since 1978 It is one of the most famous products to come from Vermont However Ben and Jerry are not from Vermont They are from New York In fact they were born just days apart in the same hospital Ben and Jerry met as young boys long before they became successful business partners Bennett Cohen was born on March 18 1951 in Brooklyn New York His parents were Irving and Frances Cohen Ben had an older sister named Alice His father worked as an accountant Ben’s mother stayed home to care for the children Jerry Greenfield also began his life in Brooklyn He was born four days before Ben on March 14 1951 Jerry’s parents were Malcolm and Mildred Greenfield Jerry had an older sister named Ronnie He also had a younger brother named Geff Jerry’s father worked as a stockbroker His mother took care of the household 4
Both Ben and Jerry loved food from the time they were young boys But their eating habits soon made them overweight As a result Ben was teased at school Jerry’s classmates teased him about his weight too Today Ben Jerry’s scoop shops operate in more than 25 countries throughout North America Europe Asia and Australia 5
