COHEN
Bennett

• 1. Ben & Jerry's

Bennett Cohen is an American businessman, activist and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry's.

Ben & Jerry's

In 1977, Cohen decided to go into business with his old friend Jerry Greenfield, and in May of the next year, the two men opened Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream Parlor in Burlington, Vermont. They initially intended to start a bagel business, but found the equipment costs prohibitive and switched to ice cream instead. They chose Burlington as a location because it was a prominent college town which, at the time, had no ice cream shop. Ben & Jerry's distinctive style of ice cream was developed to compensate for Cohen's anosmia, as he kept adding larger and larger chunks to the ice cream to satisfy his need for texture in food. Cohen resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Ben & Jerry's in 1996.