How Much Free Ice Cream Do Ben & Jerry's Employees Receive?

When one thinks of the culinary delights the tiny state of Vermont has to offer, several iconic foods come to mind. One may think of light-colored, sharp cheddar cheese. Breakfast fans may instantly think of nature's sweetener: thick and luscious maple syrup made from tree sap. And finally, there is the world-famous ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry's.

Founded in 1978 by two guys in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Ben & Jerry's is now an ice cream empire that is also a certified B-corporation, with Fair Trade commitments and non-GMO ingredients. Even their go-to manufacturer for their chocolate chip cookie dough chunks is a business based on doing good, with B-corporation status.

Employees of Ben & Jerry's get many perks, some of which include small daily joys, like getting to pet furry friends in the office, and other bigger and long-lasting perks, like getting to bestow a name on a new ice cream flavor.

Then there is the most obvious bonus of working for an ice cream business: free ice cream. But how much free ice cream do the employees at Ben & Jerry's get?

According to the Ben & Jerry website, employees get to bring three pints of ice cream home a day. While that may seem like a lot of dessert for one employee, think about how easy it is to down an entire pint of ice cream by oneself (you can blame thermodynamics for that).

Since a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream contains about 1,280 calories on average (according to My Catholic Kitchen), the three pint ice cream perk is not exactly great for your health. On the other hand, a surplus of ice cream will surely keep loneliness at bay and attract friends to your kitchen. 

Fortunately for employees of the ice cream empire, there is a seemingly never-ending variety of Ben & Jerry's flavors, so their work perk never gets boring. In 2020, there were 98 different ice cream flavors on the market — 40 new flavors created and released since 2018, which means that the ice cream folks are relentlessly inventing new flavor combinations for their fans.

If all of this talk of ice cream is making your stomach grumble and you don't happen to be an employee of Ben & Jerry's with a stock in your freezer, not to worry, the easy-to-find brand will likely be found in your local grocery store. Now the only hard part is to decide which Ben & Jerry's flavor you want for yourself.