For the past 34 years, the mission of iconic ice cream company Ben and Jerry’s has always been to make the “finest quality ice cream and euphoric concoctions.” Well, recently in a HuffingtonPost Live interview, founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield did more than hint at their desire to create a cannabis-infused ice cream flavor. “Makes sense,” Cohen stated. “Combine your pleasures.” Indeed.
While the founders stated that they would be creating said euphoric concoction “if it was [their] decision,” it’s not. Cohen and Greenfield did found the company but they sold it to Unilever in 2001 for upwards of $326 million. “There are wiser heads inside the company that figure those things out,” Greenfield said regarding whether pot ice cream could be a thing we’d likely see in the company’s future.
But a weed-infused ice cream flavor would “fit into the company’s brand,” says Jennifer Falco, co-founder of Cannabrand, a weed-focused branding and marketing firm. It’s true. Ben and Jerry’s already offers flavors that not-so-inconspicuously reference marijuana enjoyment. Flavors like Cherry Garcia, Hazed And Confused, Bonnaroo Buzz, Phish Food, and Half-Baked, Satisfy My Bowl, and Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies Encore Edition give a wink and nod to some of the brand’s more experimental consumers.
Photo Credit: AdWeek
Fans have already started brainstorming names for these potentially future flavors. Ideas include Cannabiscotti And Cream, Berry Mary Jane, and Karamel Kush (ok we made that last one up). But lest you think pot ice cream is a novel idea, Cannabis Creamery already offers pot-infused ice cream to medical marijuana prescription holders in California.
There would be some hiccups in Ben and Jerry’s attempt to create marijuana-infused products, however. First, the brand would only be allowed to sell pot ice cream in states where recreational use is legal—Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska. Furthermore, grocery stores would not be allowed to stock the products, so folks jonesin’ for the treat would have to buy pints at a dispensary. Batches would need to be manufactured in each state in which they’d be sold as interstate transport of cannabis is illegal. Lastly, there’s the problem of potentially alienating more conservative consumers by, as Adweek succinctly puts it, “offering a product that many still see as an illegal drug.”
Can’t wait for this to hit grocery store shelves (or not)? Folks behind the CannaGrow Expo encourage users in Colorado, no strangers to edibles, to go all DIY.
Photo Credit: CannaGrow Expo
Feature Photo Credit: Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry’s
Michelina DelGizzi
Michelina DelGizzi, MS, MPH, is a writer and caseophile based in Boston and Lafayette, La.
