Ben & Jerry's
You can now get American ice cream Ben & Jerry's at the Singapore Zoo
By Teo Pau Lin, 28 November 2004
The Sunday Times
Supermarkets and petrol kiosks are no longer the only places you can get your Ben & Jerry's fix.
The American ice cream brand opens its first parlour here at the Singapore zoo today.
And all of today, you can slurp ice cream to your heart's content as every visitor will get a free cone. You can even return for as many cones as you like.
Ben & Jerry's is owned by the Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant, Unilever, which bought over the brand four years ago.
The outlet here is franchised to the zoo. Singapore was chosen as the site of its first outlet in South-east Asia because of its good sales record, says Mr David Lim, general manager of Ben & Jerry's Singapore.
The brand has been available here for more than five years in Cold Storage supermarkets and selected petrol kiosks.
Bestselling flavours like Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby and Chunky Monkey have driven sales to hit double-digit percentage growth year on year over the past three years, he says, although he declined to give figures.
What sets it apart from other brands is its use of cow's milk from Vermont, where it was founded and is headquartered, and the generous addition of chunky ingredients like cherries, cookie dough, fudge and brownies.
'The chunks are so big it's almost like eating a complete dessert,' adds Mr Lim.
The company was founded in 1978 when childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield sold their own ice cream blends in a renovated petrol station in Burlington, Vermont.
So popular were their innovative flavours that soon, the flamboyant pair moved on to manufacture tubs for retail outlets in other parts of the United States.
Now, Ben & Jerry's range of ice cream, low-fat ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet are distributed worldwide in Canada, Europe, Korea, Hong Kong and Israel.
The two founders still serve on the company's board as minority shareholders.
In Singapore, it faces the stiffest competition from US-originated ice cream brand Haagen-Dazs, which has 10 parlours scattered islandwide.
Pinedale Trading, which brought Haagen-Dazs here in 1983 through franchise, declined to give sales figures or comment about Ben & Jerry's presence in Singapore.
But Mr Lim believes Ben & Jerry's has enough support to stand on its own.
The outlet offers 14 flavours of ice cream (for $4 a scoop compared to $4.50 at Haagen-Dazs), as well as sorbets, smoothies, sundaes and milkshakes. There are plans to open two more outlets at Jurong BirdPark and Night Safari soon.
Mr Lim says: 'We have a different spirit and character from Haagen-Dazs. Other than offering a different taste in our ice cream, our strength is in our wacky and creative branding and our responsibility to the community.'
He adds that Ben & Jerry's has always been committed to protecting the environment, like using unbleached paper cups, and serving the community, like supporting blood donation drives.
In fact, its choice of setting up shop in the zoo in far-flung Mandai was bolstered by the attraction's commitment to wildlife conservation.
The management has yet to decide how it will contribute to the community.
But today's grand opening event, which will include games, music and appearances by MediaWorks artists Bryan Wong and Ericia Lee, will be a start.
Ben & Jerry's
Foyer of the Singapore Zoological Gardens
80 Mandai Lake Road,tel: 6365-8392.
Open from 8am to 8pm daily.
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