For many companies, the decision would have been an easy “yes.” However, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. has always taken pride in doing things differently. Its profits had been declining, but in 1995 the company was offered an opportunity to sell its premium ice cream in the lucrative Japanese market. However, Ben & Jerry’s turned down the business because the Japanese firm that would have distributed their product had failed to develop a reputation for promoting social causes! Robert Holland Jr., Ben & Jerry’s CEO at the time, commented that, “The only reason to take the opportunity was to make money.” Clearly, Holland, who resigned from the company in late 1996, thought there.
