It was announced Monday that frozen treat gurus Ben & Jerry’s are expanding their empire to include dogs. That’s right, starting next week, the tiny tubs for Fido will hit the company’s website. Stores should have them on the shelves by the end of the month. Just think, your pup will never have to suffer another breakup without an assist from ice cream again! No more choking down dry cake minus the creamy frozen side on their birthday. And gone are the summer days that they had to lounge by the pool with a stupid water bowl full of ice cubes while the humans sucked on pudding pops – this is the pups year, I tell you.
If your furry friend gives you the puppy dog eyes when you dig into a bowl of ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s has a solution.
The ice cream maker is debuting Doggie Desserts, which will hit its website on Monday and the shelves of grocery and pet stores this month. The line kicks off with two flavors named after its employees’ pets: Pontch’s Mix, which is peanut butter with a pretzel swirl, and Rosie’s Batch, a mix of pumpkin and mini cookies.
The treats are made of ingredients already used in the company’s ice creams, but with a sunflower butter base instead of dairy to be gentler on dogs’ stomachs. They will sell individually as 4-ounce mini cups or in four-packs for a suggested price of $2.99 and $4.99.
“People are at home and they’re looking for some sort of additional comfort and ice cream, specifically Ben & Jerry’s, is one of those go-to comfort foods,” said Lindsay Bumps, a Ben & Jerry’s global marketing specialist. And, she noted, they are spoiling their dogs, too.
Ben & Jerry’s employees were inspired by their own beloved pets, Bumps said. The company’s headquarters in Vermont is dog-friendly. Before the pandemic, about 40 dogs would spend their days at the office and curl up under desks. The four-legged coworkers were a ready-made focus group, she said.
Is this a good idea? Hells yes, dog owners are a marketer’s dream. B&J’s have already come up with an accompanying line of ice cream themed dog toys to go with it. Most dog owners know this isn’t the first frozen dog treat out there. Purina puts out Frosty Paws. And there’s a whole line of Pooch Cakes and Pooch Creamery available. But this is Ben & Jerry’s, just think of the size of the checkbooks that got opened when this announcement came out. I absolutely love that these flavors are inspired and named after actual B& family dogs, who are adorable (that’s Pontch in the header pic, by the way). It just means we’re going to get a new B&J dog for each flavor, these will be the best campaign rollouts ever. I wonder if their stores will carry these in addition to grocery stores? Can we bring our pups to B&J’s and order them a cone? Will they have special dog areas – will they have dog b-day parties in those special dog areas? I live in LA, I promise you these ideas are already being workshopped.
Much more important question: that article said, “The treats are made of ingredients already used in the company’s ice creams, but with a sunflower butter base instead of dairy.” There is nothing there that says I can’t eat Pontch’s Mix, right? So if I run out of my Chunky Monkey, I can slip my spoon into Rosie’s Batch and scratch my ice cream itch? I mean, let’s be real – my dogs will eat this up (literally) but they’re also happy when I toss them the overripe bananas we freeze to use for smoothies. So if there is only one thing of ice cream in the house, and it can be consumed by both humans and dogs, even if it says ‘dog’ on the label – I mean, I still have the opposable thumbs, you know?
Photo credit: Instagram
Honestly, I’m surprised this took them so long. Like you said, doggie ice creams arent really anything new – frosty paws have been around for what, 20 years? 25 years? – so in this case it feels like Ben and Jerry’s is a little behind. But the flavors look good and we may let our dog have one (the pooch creamery ice cream is okay for him, but the one time we let him have a frosty paws he was sick all night, from both ends. He had also eaten a pound of whole bean coffee so we arent sure which was the culprit, or if it was both. and yes it was a very long night.)
We get our doggie ice cream from Schwan’s. My girl likes someone to hold the cup for her. My boy doesn’t share. If you get too close he very politely picks up the ice cream cup and walks away. Eventually he always ends up way at the other end of the yard.
Oh, that’s adorable! We’ve got 4 dogs. The two small ones are brother and sister. We used to dog-sit them when their original owner went off on her dog shows. Their visits became longer and longer. Eventually, no one came to get them, and weeks later, when we finally the owner down – she’d changed her phone number – she told us to just take them to the pound if we didn’t want them. She should be forbidden from owning animals. My daughter informed me today that they turn 2 on Sunday. I can’t believe how the last 18 months have flown. Girl I takes her treat and sits, waiting for Boyo to gobble his up. When he’s finished, she daintily picks up her treat, parading backwards and forwards, tormenting him. She’s a minx. They are hilarious. We have to spell things out, too. We can’t say dog park, walk, bath, the lake, the ball, a treat etc., unless it’s happening right at then and there. Now I can’t imagine not having them.
That’s awesome! Dogs are the best. Be careful though, they can learn to spell.
My parent’s dog learned how to spell. My parents couldn’t get away with anything.
Yes! – I just say T-R-E-A-T-S and my dogs — and cat — come running!!!!
My dog overheats easily (I didn’t get a winter dog, he just is always hot) and in the summer I give him a Frosty Paws after most walks. He loves it and I’m happy to get him another brand to see which he prefers
oh man those flavours sound really tasty! I want some too!
They’re human grade so you can eat them if you want. My husband was reading about them the other night and he read it to me. We’ve never done ice cream for our dogs but this summer we are going to try giving them this.
This is cute.
I adore dogs (and kitties). That’s all.
I cannot find out how much fat is in them— too much can cause pancreatitis. 😕
Ben & Jerry’s list the nutritional analysis and ingredients on their website. Here’s one flavor [Pontch’s]: Guaranteed analysis: Cal 225 per cup. Crude protein (min) 3.5%, Crude fat (min) 10.5%, Crude fiber (max) 0.3%, Moisture (max) 56.0% Ingredients: WATER, SUGAR, COCONUT OIL, CORN SYRUP, PEANUTS, SUNFLOWER SEED PASTE, CANOLA OIL, WHEAT FLOUR, CORN STARCH, PEANUT OIL, PEA PROTEIN, SALT, LECITHIN, BUTTEROIL, GUAR GUM, LOCUST BEAN GUM, SOYBEAN OIL, CITRIC ACID (PROMOTE COLOR RETENTION), SODIUM BICARBONATE, BARLEY MALT.
Definitely not a health food! But I would hope people are only giving a little of this as a treat!
I make my own frozen treats for my boys. Nonfat greek plain yogurt, mashed up banana or baby food banana, touch of honey, and a little peanut butter that is only made from peanuts and salt. I line a pan with plastic wrap to freeze. Then lift out and cut up into chunks to be ready to go after walks.