The latest news, trends, analysis, interviews and podcasts from the global food and beverage industry

US ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s is introducing a cleaner, greener freezer for testing in the US, with the hope that it will eventually be approved for long-term use.

The company announced the launch of a pilot project testing hydrocarbon-based freezers, which present great environmental benefits by minimising the freezer’s impact on global warming.

For years, the Vermont ice cream maker has pursued alternatives to greener freezers. The company feels the time is right for a new kind of cool, though getting to this point hasn’t been easy.

“This is an important step for our business which we hope will clearly demonstrate that a more environmentally friendly refrigeration technology can work in the US market,” said Ben & Jerry’s CEO, Walt Freese. “The technology is commonplace in Europe with literally millions of home and commercial units in place.”

“We’ve been working on getting better refrigeration technology into our distribution networks in the US since 2001, and more specifically on hyrdrocarbon freezing for the past year,” said engineer Pete Gosselin.

For now, the efforts from the team – including Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever, Greenpeace and others – can claim moderate success with approximately 50 freezers this autumn, with approval to test up to 2,000 freezers over the next few years.

“This climate-safe freezer will keep pints of Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia as cold as ever, but it's also going to help cool our planet,” said Greenpeace USA Executive Director, John Passacantando. “With hurricanes intensifying, tropical disease spreading, sea levels rising, and polar bears going extinct, we need to make sure that what cools our ice cream, drinks and homes isn’t also melting the ice caps.”

The freezer green team launched the kick-off to the programme in Washington DC at the Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop in Georgetown, with Ben & Jerry’s co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, and CEO Walt Freese, Greenpeace USA ED John Passacantando and Solutions Director Amy Larkin as well as Unilever Global Project Leader Alan Gerrard, who has championed the placement of the same freezers throughout the world. The technology is currently allowed in every country except the US.