Boston, Ben & Jerry's

I'm up in Massachusetts for a good while, playing with both an opera company in Boston and a chamber orchestra on the Cape. Good times. With the Olympics in full tilt I thought it might be good to point out that there's an Olympics - ice cream tie in.

A few months ago Bryan and I went to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont. Sadly the production line was shut down- it was Thanksgiving week- but this sadness was countered with amazing ice cream. A buddy with the company treated up like ice cream royalty. Check out this sampler spread that Sean plopped down in front of us!

By far my favorite sample was of a new (at that time) limited-time flavor called Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie. This product is an example of how Ben & Jerry's just gets it right.

Hannah Teter is a Vermont native and a snowboarder- she won gold at Torino, and is currently at work up in Vancouver. The name and flavor concept work perfectly, as she's a blonde, her family works with maple syrup, and when you put a blondie with maple syrup you're winning. In true Ben and Jerry's fashion they are donating some proceeds from the sales to Hannah's charity. It's the perfect symbiosis of social responsibility, great product, and sublime marketing.

Here's what the pint looks like- I just snagged this over at 7-11. I'm not sure how long it will be around for, so if you see it you'd better buy it. You will not be disappointed.

2/18 - a little update.

Ben & Jerry's just tweeted the following. You see what I mean about this company?

@cherrygarcia We're so happy to announce our commitment to Fair Trade - all our flavors, across all countries will be#fairtrade by 2013