var json_comments = new Array("
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KyleOrton
March 4, 2009 10:37 PM
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Oooh, that's cold.

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3 replies
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Chantillian
March 4, 2009 10:37 PM
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Häagen-Dazs is now Häagen-Was in my book.

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6 replies
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B
March 5, 2009 1:09 AM
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@Chantillian:
/Sings
There ain't no Hagen, there ain't no Daz.
There ain't no fluten, there ain't no glas. T
here ain't no Steve at Steve's
But there's a Ben, and there's a Jerry, and they made real ice cream till they sold out to a multinational conglomerate and Ben left cause he didn't like where the company was headed....

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cuchanu
March 4, 2009 11:54 PM
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@Chantillian: They still have better ingredients than Ben and Jerry's. Did you guys know that most of Dreyer's regular \"Ice Cream\" is no longer legally ice cream? They call it \"Frozen Dairy Product\". So I don't buy it anymore. Haagen Daz has only a few ingredients and no crap. However I hate downsizing and so I'll have to buy Ice Cream at Trader Joe's now instead.

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purplesun
March 5, 2009 12:44 AM
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@cuchanu: And at least Haagen Daz can tell a person which of their ice creams are gluten-free. Ben and Jerry's refuses to answer that question because, basically, they are unable to source their ingredients. Creepy, if you ask me.

Here's a link to their flippant, contradictory FAQ response about it.

We do not have a list of gluten-free flavors. Sorry! The ingredients that we use change quite often. We do not want to claim a flavor is gluten-free, then have that list become outdated and the recipients not aware of the latest changes.

...

We assure you that we have researched our ingredients carefully, and we know exactly what is going into our ice cream.

If they did, they'd know if there was gluten in their products. It's disturbing.

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 1:13 AM
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@purplesun: Well, B&J does have one of the fastest moving, most fluid product line-ups seen rarely outside industries featuring anorexic women, cocaine and runways.
OK, fine, flight attendants and the fashion industry, nit-picker.

Haagen Daz has, what, four flavors? And has had them forever?

It's tough for Ben & Jerry's to generate these lists (or certify \"better\" ingredients since they often include, say, Heath Bars, chocolate-dipped pretzels, etc.)
But their quality standards for their own ice cream without the third-party add-ons is equal to any other super-premium ice cream. Recall that they were one of the first purveyors to use hormone-free cream, and the first (and compared to Haagen Daz, the only) to also use organic milk.
They also, for the longest period that they could, had corporate policies that were incredibly progressive: CEO salary caps, lush benefits, supporting local farmers over factory farms, etc.

So, as far as the quality argument, I don't see it. Regards the documentation argument, it's understandable. Regards the value argument, their recent declaration speaks for itself. And (IMHO) regarding corporate ethics, they're clear head-and-shoulders above most other companies, let alone their direct competitors.

And, whoever compared Dreyer's with either if these two ice cream makers obviously hates ice cream with a passion. :P

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purplesun
March 5, 2009 2:18 AM
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@Trai_Dep: McDonald's can list which of their items are gluten-free. Certain Thai Kitchen products certify themselves as gluten-free. Three of the family-owned restaurants I've been to recently have had gluten-free menus. Five of the chain restaurants I've been to recently had gluten-free menus. Even Panda Express can say, with brute and refreshing honestly, which of their items are gluten-free ( none of them ).

It's laziness on Ben and Jerry's part. Laziness and an admitted to inability to control the things that go into their products because they are, apparently, unable to effectively communicate with or monitor their third-party suppliers. Do you want to eat something from a company that cannot say what is in their products? Do you want to eat something from a company that cannot source their ingredients? They clearly cannot and that's irresponsible.

They don't change items that often. Most of their ice cream flavors have been around for decades, with a few new ones coming and going every now and then. There is no reason that company - a huge company, not some hippy-dippy outfit everyone believes it is, can't say what's in their products.

Haagen Daz also happens to have a great deal more than four items, by the way.

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 2:44 AM
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@purplesun: They're SAFE products that they source, just not excruciatingly, primly organic. You get \"Heath Bar Goldfish Crunch with Snicker Swirls\" and you pretty much have to dance with the girl that brought you.
It's okay, they'll have another one next week.

If they only had vanilla, chocolate, coffee and strawberry for the last two decades, it'd be simpler. It'd also not be Ben & Jerry's.

Good freaken gods, it's ICE CREAM, a once--or-twice-a-month treat. If your system is that delicate to be impacted, you should be eating jello. :)

Stick to their more generic, organic varieties if you want a less complicated ingredient reading experience. :)

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DeeKey
March 5, 2009 10:13 AM
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@Trai_Dep: You dont want to know what Jello is made of because once you do, well, I havent touched it since I found out.

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HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak
March 5, 2009 7:23 PM
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@DeeKey: What?

Collagen rendered from cow hooves. What's wrong with that?

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Parapraxis
March 5, 2009 5:32 PM
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@DeeKey:

I think they changed the formulation- it's mostly seaweed now, i believe.

although, there have been a lot of horses gone missing lately...

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 2:59 AM
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@Trai_Dep: And, of course, it's just ice cream.
I think that both are great.
Can we all get along and slag on Dreyer's instead? :)

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Dafrety
March 4, 2009 11:51 PM
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@Ghede: Ben & Jerry's does what Häagen-Don't!

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YardanCabaret
March 4, 2009 11:01 PM
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@Ghede: genius, If I was more motivated I would print that onto stickers using their font and place over all their products at my local grocery

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lalaland13
March 4, 2009 10:38 PM
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I would love to eat some Ben and Jerry's in honor of this proclamation, but I'm currently testing out a new waistline shrink ray project. Maybe I'll get some fro-yo, if I can find it.

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adamondi
March 4, 2009 10:50 PM
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@lalaland13: Ben and Jerry's has some excellent frozen yogurt, but the calorie savings is negligible in the end....

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eightfifteen
March 4, 2009 10:47 PM
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@lalaland13: So, are you saying that Häagen-Dazs is actually helping you with your waistline? I can see the marketing now, \"We shrink our pints so you can shrink your waist!\"

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downwithmonstercable
March 4, 2009 11:21 PM
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@eightfifteen: Makes sense... \"We know you're going to eat the whole thing, so we'll help you lose weight while you do it by taking away 2 ounces...\"

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Russ Savage
March 4, 2009 10:38 PM
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niiiice.. take that hagen daz

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Baccus83
March 4, 2009 10:38 PM
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Can you still call it a pint if it's not exactly a pint?

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3 replies
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Megladon
March 4, 2009 11:09 PM
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@Gene Gemperline:


Well if you dont shrink it to under a pint, how ever can you justify the raise in price in 6 months when they add 20% more, \"NOW ITS PINT SIZED!\" ? Atleast i'm sure thats how their marketing team pitched it to them.

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valarmorghulis
March 4, 2009 10:42 PM
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@Gene Gemperline: Unless it says the word \"Pint\" on the packaging it won't matter to them, just the retailer.

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fantomesq
March 4, 2009 10:41 PM
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@Gene Gemperline:

They probably aren't calling it a pint. Its about time a competitor tout their failure to shrink as a benefit! The larger sizes definitely sway me in my purchase decisions.

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jscott73
March 4, 2009 10:39 PM
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Thank god for pot smoking hippies, are they the only ones left with any business sense these days?

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4 replies
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anmlStyl
March 4, 2009 11:17 PM
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@jscott73: they, uh, got bought out (or was they that sold out?) to Unilever some time ago.

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Ben Duffy
March 4, 2009 10:54 PM
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@jscott73: Considering the 'pot smoking hippies' is Unilever, the same company that started the shrinkray on regular ice cream through their Breyer's brand, I'm afraid not.

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 1:27 AM
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@Ben Duffy: Yeah, but they have a Unilever guy who likes Phish - and has the red-eye to prove it - a LOT to liaze with the B&J division.

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jscott73
March 4, 2009 11:04 PM
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@Ben Duffy: I knew somebody would point out the obvious but at least their spirit appears to live on.

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the_spaghetti_avenger
March 4, 2009 10:41 PM
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I think calling out other companies stimulates healthy competition :D. Häagen-Dazs now has to compete with new tactics :]

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Repique
March 4, 2009 10:41 PM
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I'm pleased with this, but as someone who tends to prefer ice cream to be just ice cream and not have a ton of stuff mixed in with it (which is totally personal thing), I'll probably still be buying the smaller containers of H-D. Alas. I should take a stand, but I don't think I have the willpower!

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johnva
March 5, 2009 12:20 AM
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@Repique: Totally agree. Most Ben and Jerry's flavors have way too much crap mixed in them (there are only a few flavors I even like at their stores, despite being someone who LOVES ice cream). They also tend to put tons of super-sweet stuff in it, which grosses me out.

Nothing against them, except that their product generally isn't to my taste as much as H-D.

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ZekeSulastin
March 4, 2009 11:34 PM
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@Repique: ... actually, B&J's does sell plain flavors without mixed-in bits and it's quite good; I had a pint of plain chocolate the other day.

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johnva
March 5, 2009 12:21 AM
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@ZekeSulastin: Where? I have NEVER seen any B&J for sale with anywhere near the variety of \"plain\" varieties as H-D.

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ZekeSulastin
March 5, 2009 12:45 AM
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@johnva: They probably don't sell much of it, but they have Coffee, Vanilla, Chocolate, Butter Pecan, Pistachio Pistachio, Organic Vanilla, and Organic Strawberry as what I would consider 'plain' flavors with minimal mix-ins, with others with some mixes (i.e. Cookie Dough) but not approaching the level of Everything But The.

I happen to like New York Super Fudge Chunk as my favorite flavor, myself :)

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johnva
March 5, 2009 3:27 AM
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@ZekeSulastin: Hmm, I've never even seen most of those flavors for sale. Most of the grocery stores here seem to only carry 5-7 \"popular\" flavors.

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ShadowWylde
March 5, 2009 2:14 AM
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@ZekeSulastin: i love B&J plain vanilla. once in awhile i use it for sweetening my coffee rather than fat free half and half.

though, give me a pint of cherry garcia and i am doomed to eat the entire thing in one sitting.

i read somewhere that the reason for the exotic mixes with extreme flavours is due to one of the partners having anosmia, no sense of smell. with anosmia you are unable to taste foods unless they are very strong flavours.

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rickinsthelens
March 4, 2009 10:43 PM
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Yeah for Ben and Jerry's! They are still too expensive for me to justify except as an occaisional treat when I travel for work though. Whay can't companies accept that if I want a half gallon of Ice cream, I want a half gallon of Ice cream? It's not like I am going to serve smaller portions to my family because Breyers or whomever dictates that I must. I either am forced to buy two containers, buuy a storebrand (like safeway) which is still a full half gallon, or, skip ice cream and go for another item, which is what I usually do. I used to eat a lot of ice cream. It was my comfort food of choice. Now I drink a lot of Diet Dr Pepper instead. Oh, and I can get in in 24 ounce bottles instead of smaller ones, which I do.


Don't dictate that I must buy smaller or more items to get the same quantity. I will skip it altogether. Charge me a fair price for the standard amount, and I will buy it.

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West Coast Secessionist
March 5, 2009 7:58 PM
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@rickinsthelens: Safeway tricked you. Theirs is not a full half gallon either. They just haven't gotten to the most recent shrink trend. The current score on Ice Cream \"half gallons\" is:

Dreyers 1.5 quarts
Most other national brands 1.5 quarts
Safeway 1.75 quarts
Nobody does a real half gallon anymore in Northern California. I know there's some Southern brand that touts its real half gallon, but I forget the name since I've never seen it in a store.

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ColoradoShark
March 4, 2009 10:45 PM
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Maybe \"those other guys\" hired someone from Best Buy and told them they can get away with advertising the 14 oz package as \"pint class\".

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concordia
March 4, 2009 10:45 PM
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Don't be fooled by their hippy facade, Ben & Jerry's is owned by the enormous conglomerate Unilever.

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2 replies
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XTC46
March 5, 2009 10:22 AM
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@concordia: I dont care if they are owned by communist russia. If they keep making delicious ice cream (everything but the... is so damn delicious) then I will keep giving them my money.

The face that they also run a responsible business is secondary to me.

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ZekeSulastin
March 5, 2009 12:48 AM
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@concordia: Shun the corporations! SHHUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN!

I don't think a soul here buys it for the hippy facade - I bet a lot of people here will buy it out of spite for H-D now!

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Smooooth
March 4, 2009 10:47 PM
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Screw the pint. Give me a half-gallon!

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Chip Skylark of Space
March 6, 2009 5:09 PM
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@Smooooth: Pussy.
I grew up in New England, where every village in the '70's had some family member making their own ice cream and churning [hah hah] out some nice stuff on occasion. When I moved to Min-ne-so-tah, I found the grocery stores filled with buckets that the local companies filled with FIVE quarts of ice cream. No idea where they came up with that measure, but for the first 15 years I lived here, my freezer always had room for one of those bad boys, and my dogs always had a water bucket by the back door, and my random hardware and stuff was always nicely (semi-) organized.

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outoftheblew
March 4, 2009 10:50 PM
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@Smooooth: Except half-gallons of ice cream are becoming 1.5 quarts.

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Pop Socket
March 5, 2009 3:46 PM
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@outoftheblew: Half-gallons got hit by the grocery shrink ray several years ago. Which makes me anti-shrink-ray since 2005.

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octopede
March 4, 2009 10:48 PM
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This from the same company that, some years ago, publicly stated that the new CEO would be hired in at no more than 10 times (i think it was 10..? maybe it was only 5!) more salary than the lowest-paid employee. Then, they hired a CEO at about 80 times the lowest salary. I don't really eat that much ice cream, I'm just sayin'...

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 1:30 AM
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@octopede: ...After trying for over five years, to find someone to run the place who were as ethical as Ben and Jerry were.
So, you can't fault the guys for wanting to retire, and it's not like they should have simply shuttered the place up.

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Megladon
March 4, 2009 11:12 PM
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@octopede:


Does the unwaranted 20 million \"retention\" bonus count as pay if they're only making 5x more then Willy the mail boy?

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bohemian
March 4, 2009 10:51 PM
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Cool, someone decided to buck the shrink ray business! I may actually look at buying Ben & Jerry's next time I hit the store. Breyers and Edys have both shrunk their cartons to the point they are just slightly larger than a Ben & Jerry's pint anyways.

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mgermano
March 4, 2009 10:54 PM
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This doesn't address the issue of how much air is in the cream they use. The \"better\" ice creams have less air so they are more dense/rich. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these companies just started adding more air and continued to call it 16oz.

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ludwigk
March 5, 2009 12:20 AM
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@mgermano: Ice cream is sold by volume, and will vary in actual weight depending on the air content, or 'overrun'.

Modifying the overrun of icecream leads to different textures and melting properties. Most premium brands of ice cream have proprietary overrun that is tuned along with other ingredients to achieve a particular flavor/mouthfeel/melting property, etc.

Cheap ice creams have up to the USDA limit of 100% (or a final product that is half air) allowable in a product that is sold as \"ice cream\". This is why cheap grocery brands are light, unsubstantial, and tend to melt quickly.

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ludwigk
March 5, 2009 12:27 AM
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@ludwigk: ...and I forgot to add, but its kind of obvious: Expensive ice creams like haagen daz, and B & J's have a much lower overrun, making them creamier, denser, and more luxurious.

I like to think that you get more \"ice cream\" in your ice cream when you buy the good stuff. I also like making my own, but then the problem is I can never eat it all!

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jtheletter
March 4, 2009 11:12 PM
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@mgermano: Is ice cream sold by weight-oz or by fluid-oz? One is a measure of weight, the other a measure of volume I believe. Assuming we're not talking fluid-oz here then adding air isn't an option to shrink the product by reducing density as the weight scale will still need to see 16 oz.

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Canino
March 4, 2009 10:56 PM
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P.S. We will, however, be raising the price.

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XTC46
March 5, 2009 10:24 AM
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@Canino: As much as I could spare the extra ice cream, id still rather them raise the price then shink the product.

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jtheletter
March 4, 2009 11:09 PM
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@Canino: Even if they do raise the price that's more honest, in my opinion, than shrinking the package to keep the price the same.

Raising the price brings the cost increase to the customer's immediate attention; while (quietly) shrinking the product size is a sneaky tactic to essentially raise the price w/o the customer noticing.

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JulesWinnfield
March 4, 2009 10:59 PM
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Shrinkage?

Häagen-Dazs was in the pool!

Häagen-Dazs was in the pool!

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m4ximusprim3
March 4, 2009 10:59 PM
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penis reference, ahoy!

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2 replies
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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 1:39 AM
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@m4ximusprim3: It's delicious but OWWW I got some in my eye.
Damn! Also got in the wrong part of this thread.

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ElizabethD
March 4, 2009 11:25 PM
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@m4ximusprim3:

This is making me hungry.

Oops, wait -- am I in the wrong part of this thread?

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RStui
March 4, 2009 11:00 PM
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Blue Bell. No shrinkage there, either!


I love B&J's...but they're very harsh on my waist.

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Sunny Yeung
March 4, 2009 11:10 PM
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It's not one pint -- it's pint-class!

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special4k4
March 4, 2009 11:13 PM
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The interesting thing is that instead of \"One of our competitors (think funny sounding European name)...\", Ben & Jerry's should have said \"One of our competitors (think funny European sounding name)...\": [en.wikipedia.org]

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TerribleDecade
March 4, 2009 11:30 PM
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Ben and Jerry's went up to $4.50 at a local store, even though it was $3.50. Well... at least they're still using those cartons.

I love Americone Dream.

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ngwoo
March 4, 2009 11:32 PM
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Of course Ben and Jerry's can do this. Their ice cream has always been ridiculously overpriced.

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Joyce Godsey
March 4, 2009 11:36 PM
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why do they bother trying to personalize when the company is owned by Unilever?

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ZekeSulastin
March 5, 2009 4:19 AM
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@Joyce Godsey: ... so because Unilever bought them they should change to Generic Corporate Packaging Unit Alpha?

It's called brand image of the division.

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knightracer
March 4, 2009 11:54 PM
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Sorry to say it but the \"quality of our ingredients\" that are really in a pint of Ben & Jerry's doesn't quite match Haagen-Dazs. Despite, the exorbitant price I'm willing to pay for Haagen-Dazs, at least they use natural ingredients. Compare the ingredient list of HD to B&J and you'll see the difference. Guar gum and carrageenan don't cut it for me.

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Trai_Dep
March 5, 2009 1:36 AM
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@knightracer: Yup. Ground bean powder and seaweed is an abomination in the eyes of God. And He loves abominations, since He made so much of them.

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MinervaAutolycus
March 4, 2009 11:56 PM
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Now that Häagen-Dazs is shrinking, it'll no longer be those 800-calorie single-serving packages.

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syntheticlogic
March 4, 2009 11:57 PM
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Why not add 2 extra ounces to their Pints to make up for their competitor?

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Corporate-Shill
March 4, 2009 11:58 PM
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The funny sounding European name is much better ice cream. That said, FINALLY a manufacturer with the guts to raise prices instead of decreasing size.


I might actually have to switch to B&J just because of their marketing efforts.


Nah, the funny sounding European name is still much better ice cream and besides I prefer the Byrs brand anyway.

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orlo
March 5, 2009 12:05 AM
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Wholesale milk prices have fallen to 7-year lows, dairy farmers are begging the government to pay them to slaughter their cows, some farmers are dumping unsalable milk... Thank you Ben & Jerry's/Unilever for not being criminally insane! Maybe their competitors will stop trying to lose customers and destroy farmers.

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savdavid
March 5, 2009 12:06 AM
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You go Ben and Jerry's! Thanks. Häagen-Dazs is deceptive anyway as is. It is an American company using a European name to sound up market.

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TechnoDestructo
March 5, 2009 12:10 AM
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Now if they'd call out Dreyers et al for their \"churned\" ice cream. (They shrunk the tub again AND they aerated it...fuck them.)

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Sollus
March 5, 2009 1:02 AM
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Their ice cream is already overpriced anyway.

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trujunglist
March 5, 2009 1:03 AM
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That'd be awesome if they were like you know what, we're ADDING 2 ozs to our pints - for free - to make up for their bullshit. fuck those douchebags, we mean it over here in vermont! live free and die cold is our motto, and we're sticking to it

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AcceleratedDragon
March 5, 2009 1:32 AM
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They could always add more \"air\" when churning.
Ice cream is sold by volume not weight.

Take equal parts (volume wise) of el-cheapo ice cream and \"premium\" ice cream. (use water displacement for precise volume measurement) Melt both in the microwave. El-cheapo will have less liquid after wards.

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mmmsoap
March 5, 2009 1:43 AM
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Sadly, this does not mean that B&J are off the hook on the Grocery Shrink Ray business. Yes, a pint is and always will be 16 oz, but it's still easy for them to change how much product goes into that 16 oz by tweaking their freezing protocols and changing the amount of air in the ice cream. Usually, premium ice creams have less air / more fat and good stuff, making them denser (and thus tastier but more expensive to produce.) The cheaper ice creams have far more air, and can be made with far less raw materials by weight.

Not that B&J is necessarily going to do this. I'm just saying it's an option.

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yelohbird
March 5, 2009 2:23 AM
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Am I the only one who caught the dirty speak?

shrinkage...standing tall in the freezer...

Tsk tsk...dangerous for a family brand comprised of 2 guys' names to be associated with sexual connotations...

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mamalicious
March 5, 2009 2:27 AM
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I still prefer Haagen Dazs as well, but probably won't be buying as much as of the product. Ben & Jerry's has too much \"stuff\" in their ice-cream, I just like plain flavors.

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ZekeSulastin
March 5, 2009 4:20 AM
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@mamalicious: ... which exist, but in a smaller assortment ._.

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johnva
March 5, 2009 7:41 AM
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@ZekeSulastin: They just don't execute the plain flavors as well. As posted above, the ingredient quality is generally inferior, and B&J is lower fat (which is not a good thing when it comes to a premium ice cream). You can see this quite easily if you go to the respective websites and compare a basic flavor like vanilla.

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tankertodd
March 5, 2009 2:45 AM
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Ben and Jerry are crazy old hippies. I hate their politics but I love, love, love their ice cream. I have cognitive dissonance as I read their silly hipster stuff on their pints about bovine hormones, etc. while I get gleefully fat on Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. This new policy turns my love-hate relationship into a love-love-hate relationship. They really nailed this on the head: now is the time for MORE B&J, not less! My loyalty just doubled.

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nacoran
March 5, 2009 5:09 AM
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What I hate is when Crowley shrank my yogurt. Really, I could do with a little less ice cream, but when they shrank my yogurt... my yogurt, where the decadent flavors had 220 calories...

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Anonymous
March 5, 2009 6:11 AM
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I was at a resort, totally unintentionally in Florida where they were holding their managerial meeting (why yes, both Mr. Ben and Mr. Jerry were in attendance) back in January. The employees and managerial staff that I met were absolutely the most friendly, interesting, and enthusiastic corporate people I've met in a long, long time .... and they passed out tons of free ice cream to all the unaffiliated guests (like myself!).

What a great company. I've been on the factory tour a few times, and always liked how down-to-earth and respectful of the consumers they were. I can dig it.

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TorrentFreak
March 5, 2009 6:29 AM
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I don't see how they can just shrink a pint. If it is less then a pint you can no longer call it a pint. Call it 14ox of ice cream or something else but not a pint. Someone should call the Dept. of Weights and Measurements because 14oz does not make a pint no matter what they say.

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johnva
March 5, 2009 7:33 AM
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@TorrentFreak: They don't call it a pint. They were quite honest about what they were doing.

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shadydentist
March 5, 2009 9:15 AM
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@johnva: Yea, to give HD credit, they were completely upfront about the change. Something about reducing the size of the ice cream rather than charging more for the same amount or something.

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Shannon J. Hughes
March 5, 2009 11:00 AM
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While I did give up Ben & Jerry for the sake of my waistline a few years back, no one else is even in the class as far as ice cream goes for me. I give them some credit for having some morals. And it is entertaining to see them calling out the competition.

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HalLaius
March 5, 2009 1:15 PM
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I liked the 16-OZ pint until I ordered a beer in a former British colony that kept closer to the old country.I can haz Imperial Pint?

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pollyannacowgirl
March 5, 2009 2:01 PM
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I don't care. I like Haagen-Dazs and I don't like Ben and Jerry's.


Personally, I like a good strong vanilla that can stand on its own without a bunch of gummi bears or caramel-caca swirls. I like Haagen-Dazs' plain flavors - chocolate, vanilla, coffee, strawberry.


Since I only eat a few ounces at a time (a pint is six to eight servings for me), it doesn't hurt that much.

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nakedscience
March 5, 2009 2:19 PM
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Dammit. I will SO be buying a pint tonight. THANKS COMSERMIST. I try not to buy ice cream 'cuz I'll just eat it in one sitting. BUT NOW I HAVE TO because I'm craving it hardcore. All your fault, Comsumerist, all your fault.

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theblackdog
March 5, 2009 2:32 PM
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Well I will just have to enjoy a pint after Lent.

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fatcop
March 5, 2009 4:07 PM
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A pint of ice cream? For what a child?

Gotta have at least double that!

I wish the sold them in larger containers.

Now I'm going to have to go get 2 pints of cherry garcia....willpower:who needs it?

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johnva
March 5, 2009 10:11 PM
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@fatcop: Your username is appropriate for this comment.

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Subsound
March 5, 2009 4:08 PM
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Props to B & J, I will def choose them over HD.

Seriously, why are companies allowed to get away with shrinking the product and calling it the same thing? There's a big difference between \"Now in Half Gallon Container!\" then a half gallon of ice cream. They should be forced to report the new sizes, not the old sizes and slap NEW across the changed weight to conceal it.

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vermontwriter
March 5, 2009 4:30 PM
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I've got to say that B&J customer service is generally spot on. For my birthday a week ago, we bought an ice cream cake that was supposed to be chocolate and cookie dough. Got it home, carved into it later that night and it was actually coffee ice cream. Not that I mind coffee, but others who were present hate it so we had nothing to offer them and felt bad.

Called B&J the next day and they told us to keep the cake and come in for a free replacement as well. That's what customer service is all about - so kudos to the Williston, Vermont store!

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MrEvil
March 5, 2009 7:30 PM
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I hope these companies are treading lightly. It's a quick way to get into trouble with agencies that enforce weights and measures standards. You can't sell a 14 fl oz container of ice-cream as a pint, you can only sell it as a 14 fl oz container.

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failurate
March 5, 2009 8:36 PM
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@mmmsoap Shouldn't we wait until they cross that bridge (air fluffing ice cream) before we call them out for crossing that bridge?
From what I have seen/tasted, they haven't reduced quality.

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Anonymous
March 6, 2009 1:37 AM
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great & all about the net weight, but could Ben & Jerry PLEASE restore the missing cherries in Cherry Garcia?

when Ben & Jerry sold out to Unileaver a couple years ago the seem to have changes the recipe for Cherry Garcia. no more will you find ANY whole cherries. you now find only little fragements of cherries and not very many of them, either.

here's the thing: Ben & Jerry's has ALWAYS been about the large quantity of massive bits. the Heath Bar flavor used to have MASSIVE hunks of carbar. Cherry Garcia had MASSIVE amounts of cherries, whole cherries.

no more. its nice but its not the same.

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RvLeshrac
March 6, 2009 11:00 AM
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Reply button doesn't work. :'-(


Here in the south, at least, we still have the big plastic gallon buckets of ice-cream. It isn't exactly the highest quality stuff (this is one of those things where brand matters *a lot*), but the gallon has been a gallon for ages.


Mayfield was one of the last big dairy companies to offer an actual half-gallon, but they \"followed Bryers' lead\" and went to the \"industry standard\" 1.75gal quite a while back.


The real question I want answered wrt the shrink-ray is: Why do the prices keep going up *in addition to* the package sizes going down? It wouldn't be quite so bad if the price stayed the same and you got less product, but instead of paying $X for a (Y-1)-Size package, we're now paying $X+1 for a (Y-1)-Size package.


They keep arguing that they're lowering package size to keep from raising prices, but they raise prices at the same time. And they're paying less for raw materials.

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Anonymous
March 8, 2009 3:47 AM
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I have sold for both companies. I will tell you that HD has only real ingrediants (only the best!) in it and because of the cost related to it, it is understandable that to keep the cost down, unlike B&J it had to shrink. I have not seen a drop in sales and I think the public after hearing and understaning why it was done, they will keep buying it. Also it keeps me having a job and supporting my family.

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SwainEileithyia
March 8, 2009 6:27 AM
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I still won't purchase Ben & Jerry's ice cream due to their support for socialist politics. I'm glad to see that their little kiosk disappeared from a local shopping mall, while another ice cream kiosk remains open. Maybe a lot of others share my opinion and that is what caused the closing of their kiosk.

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RvLeshrac
March 12, 2009 12:39 AM
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@SwainEileithyia:
(Man, I wish the scripting on the site would hurry up and 'fix itself.')


Get over yourself. They put their money where their mouth is, and provide *real jobs* for at-risk kids. If giving someone a job at your own expense and teaching them responsibility is socialist, sign me up.


There's a difference between \"social politics\" and \"socialist politics.\" You can help all of your citizens without giving everyone everything they want. It isn't a black-and-white issue.


The most important thing, of course, is still that they spend their own profits in ways they see fit.


Your argument is that they should spend their profits in ways that *YOU* see fit.


Which of these points of view is more socialist?

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blargfest
March 12, 2009 10:55 PM
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I work for a small ice cream company,* so seeing this made me chuckle. The ice-cream business actually does pretty well in tough economic times - at least ours is - so I don't really see why they felt the need to zap their pints. *We* don't have any plans to shrink our containers or up our air.

*Boulder Ice Cream, available in Colorado and nearby states. It's really good, I promise.

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