To hear the story of Ben and Jerry, start listening to the audio above at 11:25.

If you could eat any type of frozen dessert, what would it be? Something fruity perhaps, like a pineapple popsicle? What about raspberry and mango sorbet? If you’re not a fruit lover, maybe the first thing that comes to mind is something richer, like a scoop of ice gelato on a waffle cone, or a hot fudge sundae.

For Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, who were childhood friends from Long Island, New York, the answer would be, without a doubt, ice cream, frozen yogurts and sorbet.

Ben and Jerry founded Ben and Jerry’s ice cream in 1978, and from its humble beginnings, it’s now one of the most successful pint-sized ice cream producers in the world, making approximately one million tubs per day. How it all started is quite interesting, and how the company is run today is even more unique. So let’s step back in time to hear their story.

Ben and Jerry met in gym class during seventh grade. In an interview, Ben recalls that he and Jerry were the "slowest and fattest kids in class," and they became friends fast because they were often "huffing and puffing" together at the back of the group while running laps. They remained best friends throughout high school, and although they went to different colleges – Ben to Colgate and Jerry to Oberlin – they stayed in touch.

In those days, creating a world-renowned ice cream company was far from their wildest dreams. In fact, Ben dropped out of college to pursue an interest he had in pottery, that he developed actually, when he was a young boy. He brought that passion with him to New York City, but he soon realized that the high price of the city meant he would need to work all day, every day just to pay rent.

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