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Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's was founded in 1978 by childhood friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont, after the pair completed a $5 correspondence course on ice cream making, building a brand distinctly identified with chunky mix-ins and playfully named flavors. The company built its identity around progressive social and environmental activism alongside its ice cream, taking public stances on issues ranging from climate change to civil rights, a level of corporate political engagement unusual for a mainstream consumer food brand. Its flavor names, including Cherry Garcia (named for Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia) and Chunky Monkey, became distinctively memorable branding, and the company's 2000 acquisition by Unilever came with unusual contractual provisions preserving its independent board and social mission. Ben & Jerry's combination of its chunky, mix-in-heavy ice cream style and its unusually outspoken corporate activism has made it one of the most culturally distinctive ice cream brands in the country.
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Van Leeuwen
Van Leeuwen began in 2008 as a single yellow ice cream truck in New York City, founded by siblings Ben and Pete Van Leeuwen alongside Ben's wife Laura O'Neill, built around a French-style custard base and a commitment to high-quality, simple ingredient lists at a time when many ice cream brands leaned heavily on artificial additives. The company's expansion from its original truck into physical scoop shops across New York City and eventually into national grocery distribution reflected the broader premiumization of the ice cream category during the 2010s, as consumers increasingly sought out ingredient-transparent, chef-driven brands. Van Leeuwen's collaborations with other food and entertainment brands for limited-edition flavors, including notable partnerships tied to major television and film releases, helped maintain ongoing media attention and cultural relevance well beyond its original food-truck origins. Van Leeuwen's combination of its French-style custard base and its growth from a single New York ice cream truck into a nationally distributed brand has made it one of the most notable modern premium ice cream brands in the country.
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