A trip to Stowe, Vermont wouldn’t be complete without a tour of Ben & Jerry’s!  A recent trip to attend a wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to be a real tourist and check it out!  I am sharing today on Friday field trip!

The 30 minute tour started with a short video about how the ice cream phenomenon called Ben & Jerry’s got started and some history on its growth over the decades.  Started by two guys in 1978 after they took an ice cream making course at Penn State, the first Ben & Jerry’s shop opened in Burlington, Vermont in a renovated gas station.

My favorite fact?  Putting cookie dough in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was started after an anonymous tip was received from a customer in 1984!

Guests to the Ben & Jerry’s facility are asked not to take photos of the actual manufacturing room, so I am sorry I can’t share that part of the tour with you.

From there, the tour took me to the Tasting Lab.  A flavor called Caramel Apple was in process for the employee Halloween party…sounds yummy!  Fun fact:  Employees can take home free pints every day!  Of course, some tasting went on in the Tasting Lab…for me, Strawberry Cheesecake!

My favorite flavor has always been Phish Food, so I was surprised to find out the number one seller isn’t Phish Food but Half Baked!

Over time, I switched my Ben & Jerry’s purchases to the yogurt, then Greek yogurt flavors when those became available. Now I may need to decide which non-dairy flavor I like best – there are currently four available.

Surprisingly, the tasting was not my favorite part of my visit.  The best part of my visit to Ben & Jerry’s was actually outside the factory – a walk through the Flavor Graveyard looking through the retired ice cream flavors!

I hope I have inspired you to make a visit to Ben & Jerry’s next time you are in Vermont!  Or, maybe just to try a new flavor of Ben & Jerry’s from your local market!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie