Why Did Ben & Jerry's Discontinue Its Fossil Fuel Ice Cream?

Ben & Jerry's is a beloved ice cream brand, and for good reason. It isn't in contention for the title of the world's most expensive ice cream, but its pints still taste creamy, dreamy, and are long on flavor. Unfortunately, from time to time the company discontinues a flavor, disappointing small or large groups of loyal fans. Such was the case with Fossil Fuel, which was available for just five years from 2005 through 2010.

Unlike ambiguous ice cream flavors such as Superman swirl, Fossil Fuel had a delicious and easily recognizable flavor profile of sweet cream with chocolate cookies and a fudgy chocolate swirl. Cookies and cream is a perennial favorite ice cream flavor, the volume sales of which increased by almost 73% between 2018 and 2022. And who doesn't love the combination of cookies and cream with fun chocolate dinosaurs? 

At first, it really doesn't make sense that Ben & Jerry's would ax Fossil Fuel. But go deeper, and you'll learn that the reason that Fossil Fuel is no more has nothing to do with taste or popularity. Ben & Jerry's, which has never made a secret of its company ethics, made the decision to discontinue the ice cream as a statement about the use of fossil fuels. Fossil Fuel (the ice cream) was buried in the Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard in the same way that company leaders believe that fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) should remain underground and not be used as energy.

Christopher Miller, head of global activism strategy at Ben & Jerry's, told Campaign US that Ben Cohen, eponymous co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, believed that "the strongest bonds that you can create with your consumer base is around a shared set of values." The theory was that, if customers felt they were on the same page politically with Ben & Jerry's, they would remain loyal to the brand. To that effect, Ben & Jerry's has not shied away from wearing its heart on its sleeve. On its "Issues We Care About" page, the company lists its support for hot-button topics like fair trade, campaign finance reform, and climate impact.

For lovers of Fossil Fuel who don't care about anything more controversial than whether the viral hack of adding olive oil to ice cream is delicious or atrocious, the good news is that replicating the flavor is pretty easy at home. Online commenters have concocted pretty good dupes involving vanilla ice cream, fudge, and crushed cookies. For those willing to go the extra mile, you can also order tiny dinosaur food molds and make your own chocolate dinos.