Tim O’Reilly, the man who coined the phrase Web 2.0, is also famous for the O’Reilly Radar – spotting the next big thing in technology and the online world. So, what has this got to do with ice-cream, I hear you say? Well, when O’Reilly talked about crowdsourcing and the internet, I’ll bet he didn’t consider it being used to come up with the next Cherry Garcia or Dublin Mudslide (remember that one?)
Irish fans of the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream brand can add their flavours via the ‘Do the World a Flavour’ contest, which mixes crowdsourcing with the option to choose from Fairtrade ingredients, and can be found on the ice-cream company’s Irish Facebook site.
Fans are encouraged to choose from a variety of flavours, chunks and swirls, upload an image and give their unique flavour a name that adds a bit of fun and reflects the contents.
“We are inundated each year with Ben & Jerry’s lovers asking for their favourite flavour combinations and the return of retired flavours,” said Sarah Hogan, Ben & Jerry’s brand manager.
“‘Do the World A Flavour’ allows Ben & Jerry’s to open its flavour doors by sourcing inspiration from our fans. It also allows us to give consumers exactly what they’re asking for and to continue to connect with them about our Fairtrade brand values.”
The Irish finalist will get to meet Ben & Jerry (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield) themselves, as well as visiting the Dominican Republic in November to have a look at Fairtrade cocoa farming in action.
By Marie Boran
