Ben & Jerry's mulls plan to dessert inner-city L.A.

One of the more promising projects being touted to revitalize South Central involves building a manufacturing plant for Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., the company based in Waterbury, Vt. that wants to tackle social problems while making gourmet ice cream.

Although talk of a plant is still in the "pre-preliminary stage," according to a company spokesman, co-founder Ben Cohen has clearly stated his commitment to helping rebuild L.A.

Earlier this year, Cohen met with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and toured South Central L.A. looking at possible manufacturing sites.

Ben & Jerry's nine-member board of directors will "hammer out the idea" for a site selection at one of its monthly board meetings in the next four months, said company spokesman Rob Michalak.

The plant most likely would make a new line of nondairy frozen desserts, including popsicles that would likely be called "Peace Pops," he confirmed.

Ben & Jerry's currently has three ice cream manufacturing sites in Vermont and a fourth on its way. Since the company touts its ice cream as being made from "Vermont's finest" dairy cows, it would be highly unlikely that the company would opt to make ice cream anywhere outside Vermont, said industry observers.

Building a manufacturing site is a significant commitment, pointed out Michalak. The fourth site currently being built in St. Albans, Vt., is designed to be the company's largest facility and, upon completion, is expected to be capable of producing any Ben & Jerry's product, he said.

But its estimated development cost of $25 million is far from a drop in the bucket. And construction of new manufacturing facilities doesn't happen overnight, either. The St. Alban's site, which was approved in the summer of 1990, is not scheduled for completion until early 1994, Michalak said.

If the South Central plant does get built, it will likely employ 100 people directly and provide additional jobs through distributorships, said L.A. sources who have been working with Ben & Jerry's on the idea.

Although the idea is far from being approved, Michalak said Ben Cohen is considered the "soul and vision" of the company and many of his ideas come to fruition.

He said Cohen is "very, very interested in the positive power business has to create progressive change," and it is clear that Ben & Jerry's is committed to L.A.

"We're a national company now, and L.A. is a significant city in the community," he said. "It is significant to play a role, whatever role that is."

In preparation for more unrest during the April 1993 verdict of the four police officers who beat Rodney King, Ben & Jerry's sent a truck filled with 40,000 ice cream bars to be distributed in South Central, said Patrick Lacefield, Waters' press secretary. "It was an offering to help chill things out," he said.

Cohen is working closely on his idea with Waters and her group, Community Build, which is a rival to Rebuild L.A., the organization that sprang up in the wake of the 1992 riots to bring money and jobs to the neglected areas of L.A.

Building a Ben & Jerry's plant would do more than just provide jobs, pointed out Michael Gale, president of Ben & Jerry's of California, which owns 14 franchise stores in L.A.

He said Ben & Jerry's corporate headquarters plant is the No. 1 tourist attraction in Vermont, luring between 300,000 and 400,000 tourists a year. He said the proposed South Central L.A. plant, likewise, would be a great place for kids of all ages to go on field trips.

"I would love a Ben & Jerry's plant here," he added. "It would be my dream."

Gale said a Ben & Jerry's plant would have a very positive impact on the community.

As the master franchiser for Ben & Jerry's in California, Gale is obligated by contract to donate a minimum of 4 percent of his franchise stores' annual gross sales to charity. With annual gross sales at $5 million, Ben & Jerry's of California's contractual obligation for charitable contributions equals $200,000 a year. But Gale said his franchise company donates more than that. He estimated that his Ben & Jerry's of California donates to some 50 causes a month. Two causes his company is most interested in are children's charities, such as the Children's Defense Fund, and AIDS research.

"Thousands and thousands of gallons of ice cream are donated every week," he said.

He said Ben & Jerry's of California is currently working with homeless veterans from Vietnam on a program to have them sell ice cream from carts in Westwood and Santa Monica.

If and when the cart program is successful, he said his company will explore the idea of opening a nonprofit franchise in L.A. to help war veterans.

Social consciousness is all part of Ben & Jerry's mission. Even the company's ingredients are sourced in a socially responsible way. The apple pie in its frozen yogurt comes from a company in New Jersey that employs recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, said company spokesman Michalak. Chocolate brownies come from a company in New York that trains homeless people. The company also operates nonprofit "Scoop Shops" in Harlem and in Ithaca, N.Y., in which all the proceeds are pumped back into a social cause. In Harlem that cause is caring for the homeless, and in Ithaca it's supporting a high school.