LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

Graduate School of Business

Ozamiz City

CASE ANALYSIS

THE BUSINESS ETHICS OF BEN & JERRY’S

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 BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

 Company Profile

Company Name: Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc.

Industry: Food processing

Product/s: Ice cream

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc, trading and commonly known as Ben &

Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and

sorbet. It was founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, and sold in 2000 to Anglo-Dutch

conglomerate Unilever. Today it operates globally as a fully owned subsidiary of

Unilever.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

1. How can Ben & Jerry’s increase their sales after transitioning from GMO to

non-GMO products?

2. Decision making (________________________________)

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 OBJECTIVES IN ANALYZING THE CASE

1. To address the ethical issues encountered of the company especially to their

corporate social responsibility.

2. It is crucial to be aware of the consequences based on our course of action.

Decision must rely solely on facts, evidence, and analysis that is, in principle,

verifiable by selfless and disinterested people with diverse points of view,

interests and backgrounds.

3. The case aims to determine the possible strategies on how to increase its

sales considering the inevitable effect of transitioning from GMO to non-GMO

products.

ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM

The transition from GMO to non-GMO products triggered the different

perspectives of the consumers and can possibly affect the business. Considering this

situation, we must do the SWOT analysis.

 SWOT Analysis

Strengths

 Strong brand. The ice cream product is widely known by customers

 Higher sales. Since their product is popular, this also leads to higher sales and

profit.

 Ethical values. They uphold strong ethical values for the benefit its customers.

Weakness

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  GMO sources. Before the transition, they had ingredients that were GMOs and

many were against it.

Opportunities

 GMO labeling law. This law helped the company to decide in their full transition

to non-GMOs source of ingredients.

 Market development. They can introduce new flavors in the market.

Threats

 Tough rivalry. They have strong competition with other big ice cream brands in

the US.

 Laws. Laws will force the company to enact changes from their business.

EVALUATION OF THE ALTERNATIVES

1. Ben & Jerry’s must develop their marketing strategies in selling their non-

GMO products.

 Advantage

The marketing strategies will be a great help to sell the product in the

market and attract old and new customers.

 Disadvantage

It will be costly to the part of the company and new ideas should be

brought since there is already a transition.

2. Ben & Jerry’s must cut cost to their raw materials and lower their price.

 Advantage

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 This could attract more customers since there is a lower price of the

product.

 Disadvantage

If this plan will not work, it might damage a lot the company in terms of

sales and reputation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Ben & Jerry’s should somewhat develop their marketing strategies in selling their

products because through this, they will know the new perspectives of the customers.

They should be customer-oriented now since the transition from GMO to non-GMO

products was a big risk. Lowering the price can be done also in formulating the

marketing strategies and thus, can also be an option to increase its sales.

Answers to Guide Questions

1. What ethical issue did Ben & Jerry’s face with regard to its products?

It has the dilemma of whether to continue with its decision to stay away from

using GMOs in its product despite customer criticisms. Their products either directly or

indirectly use GMOs, so the company is facing major problems considering their market

has been well-accustomed to the taste of their products.

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 3. How did Ben & Jerry’s address the need for transition from the use of GMO to

non-GMO ingredients in its ice cream?

3. What steps did Ben & Jerry’s take in order to comply with fair trade practices?

4. Do you believe that the changes implemented by Ben & Jerry’s were worth the

potential losses and costs? Why do you think so?

It is without doubt, yes. The change was for sure a costly one, especially, when

taking note that their products are produced in “bulks”. Naturally-tailored ingredients are

grown and cultured far longer than those GMOs. And the increase in cost has to reflect

in the prices they imposed to their customers, so the risk of maintaining the same price

even with higher costs must be taken, to avoid gradual deterioration of market. Why?

It’s because customers are very price sensitive, unless they are very loyal, which is not

still guarantee considering the fickle nature of people. So even with imminent losses, it

is still very worth the transition and conversion, because they are a strong believer of

their mission to uphold ethics and be a socially responsible company. Beyond profit

making, a company must always create valuable trends and practices, because when

the goal is good, those affected by the good act always finds a way to even give more.