Headquartered in Vermont, Ben & Jerry's is considered one of the leading premier ice cream companies. Specifically, the company is dedicated to creating ice creams, sorbets and frozen yogurts with natural ingredients. The company is held in high regard among consumers because of this. The company's main competitors are Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and Haagen Daz. Ben & Jerry's was acquired in 2000, by Unilever and its innovation has remained in spite of this (Ben & Jerry’s, 2016). The following paper is a SWOT analysis of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Ben & Jerry's offers consumers an extensive amount of flavors to select from ranging from Cherry Garcia, which is a cherry based ice cream with fudge; to Phish Food, which is a chocolate ice cream with marshmallows. Its uniquely, crafted flavors make for a profound brand for customers seeking a substantial amount of selections that many ice creams simply do not have (p.1). Another key strength associated with Ben & Jerry's is the fact that it offers the natural ingredients.
According to Barry (2013), consumers are getting tired of purchasing ice creams that do not offer any kind of natural to them. Specifically, the frozen treat aisle at the grocery store has become nothing more than levels of solids, corn syrup and additives rather than anything of substance. Even some of the most respected brands that had traditionally offered quality ingredients have fallen prey to commercialized additives (p.1). Ben & Jerry’s has managed to keep this particular element in play – which has afforded it the opportunity to remain viable within the consumer marketplace against Haagen Daz, which also offers natural ingredient based ice creams but nowhere near the extensive selections.
Weaknesses: Jackson (2014) writes that Ben & Jerry have no say so in the decisions that are made anymore since Unilever acquired the company in 2000. While Unilever has not shifted the scope of ingredients within the ice creams, sorbets and yogurts, the possibility for this to occur is very likely over the next few years in an effort to compete with the likes of Dreyer's (p.1).
Fulton (2010) comments that this has already started for some of the flavors that have been staples of the brand such as Cherry Garcia (p.1). As such, it is only a matter of time before the brand is driven into non-natural territory to compete with its main rivals. Dreyer's has an amount of flavors as well, and consumers know the brand just as they do Ben & Jerry's. This is an evident weakness for Ben & Jerry’s, where prior to 2000 it would not have been.
Another weakness of the ice cream selections is the price. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream tends to cost anywhere between $4-6 typically come in either individual eight ounce servings or quarts whereas with Dreyer’s and Haagen Daz, consumers have more offerings available to them. This is a significant problem, especially because consumers enjoy dessert.
Opportunities: It can be said that the best opportunities for Ben & Jerry’s lie in expanding their flavors to ensure that customers continue purchasing them, or rather seeing them as a reputable brand given one of their main competitors’ Dreyers offers a significant amount. Also, it behooves Ben & Jerry’s to offer a larger size than 1 quart. While it is true that the brand is uniquely designed and defined by this attribute, both of the aforementioned competitors have larger sizes that they offer to consumers on a regular basis.
It may also behoove Ben & Jerry’s or rather Unilever to use healthier alternatives. While the company has already shifted its all natural stance on some of its ice cream flavors, this does not mean that the opportunity to use alternative milk ingredients isn’t warranted. Alternatives that could be used are soy, almond and rice. Each of these would appeal to the customers that are seeking healthier options and may be a bit concerned about where Ben & Jerry’s is headed. By executing this particular opportunity, these customers would feel a bit better in both the short and long term about the direction of the brand.
The company also could serve to utilize social media more than it is currently. While the company has more than 8 million likes on their Facebook page, this does not necessarily mean that customers are frequenting their brand. A like does not translate into a sale. Social media affords businesses to garner additional consumers, and those prospective ones that they would not have received at all because of the engagement factor. Furthermore, the last time the brand posted a message was on February 17, 2016 and it is now 2 weeks later. This in itself presents a problem for the brand gaining any kind of traction with new, potential customers. It also suggests that there is no social media manager, or the marketing team is not doing a thorough job of ensuring that content is being communicated to followers frequently. The same is occurring with their Twitter account which has a last tweet of February 3, 2016.
Threats: The main threat to Ben & Jerry’s is for another brand that already offers all-natural to overtake them. Since Unilever has made the decision to change certain flavors that are staples to non-natural, there is a strong likelihood that other flavors will also follow suit. An additional threat that Ben & Jerry’s could face is if one of its competitors starts to use social media to gain more customers. While there is an element of brand loyalty with B&J, this does not mean that current customers will not start looking elsewhere if they ever feel as though the brand does not value their business by offering any kind of incentives, savings, etc. These are the primary threats that the brand will have to contend with if it continues down the same path.
Ben & Jerry’s Video – Source: Ben & Jerry’s, 2016
References
Barry, D. (2013, April 15). Ice Cream’s Identity Crisis. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/dining/remembering-when-breyers-ice-cream-was-you-know-ice-cream.html?_r=0
Ben & Jerry's. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.benjerry.com/
Fulton, A. (2010, September 27). Ben & Jerry's Takes 'All Natural' Claims Off Ice Cream Labels. Retrieved from NPR website: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2010/09/27/130158014/ben-jerry-s-takes-all-natural-claims-off-ice-cream-labels
Jackson, E. (2014, April 9). 14 Things You Might Not Know About Ben & Jerry's. Retrieved from Serious Eats website: http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2014/04/14-things-you-might-not-know-about-ben-jerrys.html
