Is ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s contemplating a shift into the legal marijuana industry with a cannabis-infused ice cream flavor? That’s been the hot word lately, and it all started with a question from a HuffPost Live viewer when the company’s figureheads Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were on the program:
“Ben and Jerry should TOTALLY do a cannabis edibles flavor … available wherever legal (of course),” the comment read.
“Makes sense to me,” co-founder Cohen replied instantly. “You know, combine your pleasures.”
But his partner Greenfield was less sure of the possibility.
“Ben and I have had previous experiences with substances,” Greenfield said, “and I think legalizing marijuana is a wonderful thing rather than putting people in jail for not hurting anybody else, and I’m very supportive of that.”
But what it comes down to: “It’s not my decision,” said Greenfield.
The two sold the company to Unilever Inc. in 2000.
“If it were my decision,” Greenfield continued, “I’d be doing it. But fortunately, we have wiser heads at the company that figure those things out.”
Even though the company was sold nearly 15 years ago, it still surprises some when they learn that Ben and Jerry don’t actually run Ben & Jerry’s.
“We actually don’t run anything,” Greenfield said. “Ben always says we’re just pretty faces, and even that’s a bit of a stretch.”
Ben & Jerry’s spokeswoman Kelly Mohr told AdWeek that maybe it’s time the company consider such a switch into the cannabis space.
“Ben & Jerry’s hasn’t given serious consideration to the possibility of cannabis-infused ice cream. Perhaps it’s high time.”
