Ben & Jerry's premium ice cream was a dream come true for Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who took a correspondence course in ice cream making from Penn State University. They invested $12,000 to turn a former gas station into an ice cream plant, and in 1978 opened Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Crêpes in South Burlington, Vermont. Supermarket sales soared, but then they ran into a problem.

Distributors started to refuse to accept Ben & Jerry's ice cream because the makers of Häagen-Dazs, a subsidiary of the Pillsbury Company, required that distributors choose only one brand to sell. Ben & Jerry's filed a lawsuit against Pillsbury, running an advertising campaign asking, "What is the Doughboy afraid of?" and encouraging a boycott of all Pillsbury subsidiaries, including Burger King . Pillsbury settled out of court; it agreed to stop intimidating grocery stores and Ben & Jerry's agreed to end its anti-Pillsbury promotion campaign.

Partly because of the publicity surrounding the court case, Ben & Jerry's drew national attention. Ben & Jerry's became known for its innovative flavors and strange names, such as Cherry Garcia (named after rock star Jerry Garcia). At a time when mix-ins were innovative in ice cream making, Ben & Jerry's mixed chunks of nuts and fruit into their ice cream. The company was also popular for its use of natural ingredients and its eco-friendliness. Its ice cream cartons were made from recycled paper, and farmers who supplied dairy products to the company pledged that the latter were free of bovine growth hormone (BGH).

Their success encouraged Cohen and Greenfield to take the company public to raise more capital for additional growth. This raised funds for expansion but also made it possible for investors to take control of the company, which is what happened. Cohen and Greenfield attempted to regain control of the company that they founded, but their attempt failed. In August, 2000, Ben & Jerry's was purchased by the Unilever conglomerate. Other Unilever ice cream brands include Dove and Breyers. In 2002, the Center for Science in the Public Interest accused the company of using artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils, and other factory-made substances that were not natural. Ben & Jerry's removed the All Natural tagline from their promotional materials.