Wisconsin Winner of Ben and Jerry's Flavor Contest Goes Nuts with New Suggestion

By: Ben & Jerry's | 1 Shares 176 Reads

U.S. Fan Wins for Best Fair Trade Flavor out of 15 Countries

BURLINGTON, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ben & Jerry's has once again turned a fan's flavor dream into a sweet reality with the "Do The World A Flavor" competition. Wisconsin resident, Toni Gunnison, concocted a caramel ice cream with praline almonds and a caramel swirl. The flavor, which integrates Fair Trade almonds, was named "Almond Delight" by its creator.

The Mount Horeb, Wisconsin flavor creator was awarded the grand prize on a recent once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Dominican Republic. Fifteen finalists from different countries spent a week with Fair Trade farmers at Conocado, a Fair Trade chocolate cooperative, with co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and creating their suggested Fair Trade flavors under the watchful eyes of Ben & Jerry's research and development Flavor Gurus. They also participated in a local community project, building a playground for the local children of Yabon.

Gunnison was stunned that Ben & Jerry's chose her idea as the winning flavor; "I'm shocked," stated the winner amongst the camera flashes after receiving top honors. Gunnison clearly shared that the competition was tough. "There were so many great flavors from the other contestants," Gunnison added. The Wisconsin resident downplayed her role as the contest winner and declared the most important part of the week was in performing the community service and making so many new friends from the peace, love and ice cream contest. "I think it's not only important for businesses to give back to the community, but individuals should as well," Gunnison said.

Toni's nutty and creamy creation was picked from 100,000 flavor suggestions. The 90 day-long "Do The World A Flavor" competition, was held in the spring of 2009. Ben & Jerry's has a long standing tradition of turning fans' suggestions into global successes, including iconic flavors such as Cherry Garcia and Chubby Hubby. "Ben & Jerry's has the best fans out there," said Chief Flavor Guru, Arnold Carbone. "Having one of them create our next special batch – and add another fair trade ingredient to the lineup we use is fairly nuts to some, but business as usual for us."

The Vermont-based ice cream company stated that they would need to tweak the name, to avoid any possible trademark issues, and dubbed the concoction "Dulce Almond." Dulce Almond will be available as a special batch flavor at Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops nationwide on a limited-time only basis in 2010.

About Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using high-quality ingredients including milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone rBGH. The company states its position on rBGH on its labels. Ben and Jerry's products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Contributions made via the employee led Ben & Jerry's Foundation in 2008 totaled over $1.8 million. Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation. The purpose of Ben & Jerry's philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities.

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