Join our core

When we think about Ben and Jerry’,s the first thing the first thing that comes to our mind is ice-cream.  But apparently it is not the only good thing about this company. As a matter of fact, in these days Ben and Jerry’s are launching Join Our Core, a competition to encourage socially responsible start ups in Europe. The idea is to discover 5 young European social entrepreneurs determined to create a business that embraces the company’s philosophy to give back to the community.

The Join Our Core winners will receive a 10 thousand euro cash prize as well as the support of groundbreaking social innovators from Ashoka, VSO and the Fairtrade Foundation.

‘When we set-up the company in 1978, Ben and I always believed giving back to the community was as important as making great tasting ice-cream,” says Jerry. “That’s why I am really excited about this competition, to find business models with those same values that still lead us today.”

Successful candidates will pitch their business ideas to representatives  of Ashoka, VSO and the Fairtrade Foundation, as well as to a panel of industry leaders including Ben and Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield.

This summer the finalists will be taken to Africa where they will share their social business ideas with vanilla farmers and will help local development projects in their community.

If you are still debating whether to in this or not, you should know that the first 100 entrants, who send their application before  15 March will receive the equivalent of a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream…to learn more visit Join Our Core.