The Board of Directors of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Inc. has issued a statement of support for the protesters of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement:We know the media will either ignore you or frame the issue as to who may be getting pepper sprayed rather than addressing the despair and hardships borne by so many, or accurately conveying what this movement is about. All this goes on while corporate profits continue to soar and millionaires whine about paying a bit more in taxes. And we have not even mentioned the environment.
This is priceless coming from a company that, as Ed Driscoll points out, is a division of the British/Dutch multinational corporation Unilever:
Unilever owns more than 400 brands as a result of acquisitions, however, the company focuses on what are called the "billion-dollar brands", 13 brands, each of which achieve annual sales in excess of €1 billion. Unilever's top 25 brands account for more than 70% of salesI'm sure that goes over well with Naomi Klein and the No Logo crowd. By the way, what does it take to run a socially-conscious politically-correct Ben & Jerry's franchise these days? Here's a helpful guide:
What does it take to become a Ben & Jerry's franchisee?Well, I'm glad the Board of Directors is putting its money where its mouth is, so to speak. Plus, it's apparently good for business - Unilever stock was trading today (on the New York Stock Exchange, oddly enough) at a share price of US$31.87, up $0.09.Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
- Strong business acumen and knowledge of how to develop and operate a business.
- Restaurant management, retail management, or business ownership experience in the last 10 years.
- A full-time commitment to building and developing the Ben & Jerry's franchise business.
- A minimum net worth of $300,000 (excluding residence), of which $80,000 must be liquid.
- Average total start-up cost per shop is approximately $250,000.
- Our franchisee fee is on a sliding scale from $30,000 to $9,000.
- Royalties are 3% of gross sales; the marketing contribution is 4%.
- We do not offer financing, but we do have relationships with national lenders who prefer to work with our franchisees. This approval process can be expedited to about 2-3 weeks.