By Michael Riegel - Guest Blogger
When we planned spending our school break vacation with my
parents, we considered a warm weather location, but that required buying plane
tickets at the most expensive time of the year. Having enjoyed a cold weather trip two years ago to the Poconos, we
settled on a driving trip to Vermont for five – me, my wife Deborah, our
daughter Sophie, and my parents. Of
course, no trip to northern Vermont can be considered without a stop at Ben
& Jerry’s. We are no strangers to
their offerings, and we’re pretty much willing to try anything in the ice cream
food group at least once. As the trip
approached, all five of us got excited for the various activities we had
planned but based on the limited factory tour schedule erev Christmas (eve), we had
to reconsider our departure time. Most food
tours are worth getting up a little early for, right? So an ice cream tour
would certainly be worth an early departure!
Waterbury VT is 360 miles from our home on Long Island and
the last tour of the day was at 2:00. So
we decided that a 7:30 a.m. departure (especially torturous for a 15 year old
girl and her grandmother) would be in order. Let me say that everyone agreed that it was a worthy sacrifice. As it turned out, Deborah and I were very
excited for the trip and getting to sample the ice cream and each of us was up
by 4:30 a.m., though we independently tossed and turned for an hour before getting
up, neither of us realizing the other was already awake.
As it turned out, traveling on December 24th was
an opportune choice. We made it to
Waterbury in what seemed like record time and arrived in time to catch the
12:45 tour but opted to take the 1:00 tour so we could have a lunch of, what
else, but ice cream. As we entered the
visitors area we could already see the excitement of the other visitors and
kids, both young and old. The walk up to
the building gives you plenty of chances for photo-ops with a Ben & Jerry’s
Cowmobile and face cutouts. On through
the doors and the options increase.
We got our tickets ($4 for adults, $3 for seniors, free for
kids under 12) and then proceeded to lunch.
I opted for a new flavor (New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale) that
I thoroughly enjoyed and, as the only beer drinker in our group, meant I didn’t
have to share. To me, it did not have a
tremendous hit of beer flavor but Deborah turned up her nose after one
taste. Deb chose Mint Chip and The
Tonight Dough starring Jimmy Fallon, as she was committed to trying flavors she
hadn’t tasted before. Sophie got the Mint Chip and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and
my Dad also got the Mint Chip. I guess
that makes us pretty committed Mint Chip family! Their report was that the mint was not overly
minty but that the chunks of dark chocolate were large and plentiful. For a change of pace, my Mom went for Coconut
7-Layer Bar. She is a big coconut fan,
and really relished it.
After our scoops and browsing the artifacts and displays we
headed to the tour. Unfortunately, they
shut the production lines down for the last two weeks of the year so they can
perform maintenance but we got to see the movie about the founding of the
company, a look at the equipment and a taste of ice cream. The tour is replete with corny jokes about
cows, ingredients and their products. (Why
do cows wear bells? Because their horns
don’t work.)
As tours go, you don’t get to see too much and it might be
more interesting on a production day but the staff was very pleasant and
answered a variety of questions about the company, the ice cream, and the focus
on corporate social responsibility. As
we entered the tasting room, we were faced with a sign showing the flavor of
the day – Broccoli Cheddar Chunk with Broccoli Ice Cream, Kidney Bean Chunks
and a Cheddar Cheese Swirl. Neither the
kids or adults looked too pleased until our guide turned the sign and began
handing out samples of Cherry Garcia.
Just to be up to date on the latest flavors, Half Baked is
currently the Number 1 flavor, followed by Cherry Garcia, Cookie Dough, and
Chocolate Fudge Brownie. A swing through
the gift shop gives you the opportunity for t-shirts, hats, magnets, mugs,
glasses and more. As a bumper sticker found in the gift shop asked, “If it’s
not fun, why do it?” This tour was certainly
fun – so do it!
Kashrus note: Ben & Jerry's is certified kosher by the Kof-K
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Website: http://www.benjerry.com/about-us/factory-tours
Location: Waterbury, VT
Location: Waterbury, VT
Affordability: $
I attended a few company events here and I must say that I was impressed every time. The place was aesthetically pleasing with very good decorations and seats. The NYC event space had a great layout overall, and was at a comfortable temperature.
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