How Jeni’s Ice Cream Practices Sustainability in Its Business

Who doesn’t love a good ice cream cone? You can feel even better about getting your ice cream when you get it from Jeni’s Ice Cream! This ice cream shop focuses on reducing its waste through sustainable practices that we will get into. The Jeni’s Ice Cream team is dedicated to making better-tasting ice cream while bringing people together and creating less of a carbon footprint on our planet.

Their ice creams are made without yucky stabilizers and emulsifiers, syndetic flavorings, dyes, or off-shelf mixes. They build their smooth and creamy textured ice creams without any of the bad stuff, and nothing but the good stuff. Jeni’s Ice Cream has created a community of partners that help them create their amazing ice creams. They work with local growers, makers, producers, suppliers, and even customers to create their standout flavors that everyone worldwide has come to know and love.

As a certified B Corp, they have committed to working towards reducing their carbon footprint in any way they can so they can create a positive impact on our planet and their community. They really set the standard when it comes to using 100% reusable, recyclable, and compostable things such as bowls, spoons, and napkins within their ice cream shops to encourage others to do the same. They put a high priority on sustainable practices, so let’s just dive right into what those practices are.

What are their sustainable practices and how do they market them?

Jeni’s Ice Cream does an amazing job at using sustainable practices within its business model. As a business, they are working towards being a zero-waste ice cream shop worldwide from where they source their materials and what is wasted. An example of some major strides they made when it comes to sustainability is that as of Earth day in 2020, they have diverted more than 100 tons of waste from entering into our world’s landfills.

Now, let’s talk about their sustainable practices…

They really set the standard when it comes to using 100% reusable, recyclable, and compostable things such as bowls, spoons, and napkins within their ice cream shops to encourage others to do the same.

Composting

Jeni’s Ice Cream recently started a ‘Composting at Jeni’s’ program that helps their local community and partners do what’s right for our planet. This program started with them only using compostable bowls, utensils, and napkins in all of their shops worldwide. These kinds of items often get thrown out, so the fact that they made them compostable will save some much waste from going to our landfills. Not only does this program bring about compostable utensils, but it also allows them to support other local businesses, such as local compost businesses. They partner with Innovative Organics Recycling, Rust Belt Riders, The Compost Company, and even more all throughout the world where they have shops. This program helps our planet while also helping to support other local businesses – it’s a win-win!

The way they market this practice is fairly simple. They only offer compostable items such as bowls, napkins, and utensils, and they have compost bins in every single one of their shops. This way, you don’t have to worry about where you are going to throw your garbage – you know they compost things at these shops, and they even provide you with the proper garbage cans.

Reusable bags

One of the coolest (and most sustainable) things about Jeni’s Ice Cream is that they offer beautifully designed logo bags that you will always get for free when you purchase 3 or more pints of their ice cream. Rather than giving out plastic or paper bags, they created eco-friendly bags you can reuse for years to come. This encourages people not to throw them into their garbage and encourages them to think about the environment a little more.

To market this particular sustainable practice, they offer you $1 off every pint of ice cream you purchase when you return to a shop with your bag. If you’re a big ice cream lover like I am, this is perfect for you! They encourage you to reuse your bag and they incentivize you by offering you money off your next purchase!

Metal taster spoons

How many times have you gone into an ice cream shop and wanted to taste test a particular flavor? At Jeni’s Ice Cream, you can try as many flavors as you’d like! They use metal taster spoons that you return after your taste testing that they thoroughly clean and reuse to help reduce their carbon footprint!

This is something they tell everyone who wants to try out one of their magical ice cream flavors, and this is something every ice cream shop should do!

Takeaways

• Zero waste is more achievable than you think; it just might be a bigger investment
• There are so many ways to practice sustainability while also supporting other local businesses
• Sustainability is about being creative and incentivizing consumers to be sustainable with you!