New Belgium, Ben & Jerry’s donate $100K to fight climate change

FORT COLLINS — New Belgium Brewing has joined forces with Ben & Jerry’s to donate $100,000 to a California-based nonprofit that works to mobilize the snow-sports community to battle climate change.

The two “B-corp” companies, Fort Collins-based New Belgium and South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben & Jerry’s, partnered to create a special beer and ice cream, with a portion of their proceeds going to Pacific Palisades, Calif.-based Protect Our Winters. The companies presented the check to POW on Friday during a celebration at Stoney’s Bar and Grill in Denver.

“We’re honored to have partnered with these iconic and environmentally responsible brands,” said Jeremy Jones, a professional snowboarder who founded POW in 2007.  “We’re using this partnership as a force for good, helping to make sure that our state governors know how important a strong climate policy is to everyone who wants clean air, water and a consistent winter season.”

In addition to fundraising for POW, the campaign encouraged people to generate letters of support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. More than 2,200 letters were sent to governors across the nation, voicing support for the initiative to reduce carbon emissions from the nation’s energy grid.

“The letter-writing campaign was a great success, and being able to give POW a check for $100,000 is the proverbial cherry on top of a partnership that just felt right from the beginning,” said Bryan Simpson, spokesman for New Belgium. “Partnering with Ben & Jerry’s, a fellow B Corp company that shares similar values, was a great experience, and we’re thankful to everyone who bought the beer and ice cream to make the campaign such a great success.”

Ben & Jerry’s, a wholly owned subsidiary of British-Dutch consumer-goods company Unilever (NYSE: UL), helped launch the campaign with an event in Washington, D.C., in October.

The Salted Caramel Brownie Brown Ale will be sold through the end of this year while supplies last. It has dark roasted malts, chocolaty tones and hints of vanilla. The limited-batch Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale ice cream has salted caramel swirls and fudge brownie pieces.

Jones got the idea for POW after having been turned away from winter-sports areas that had once been rideable and seeing resorts closed because of lack of snow. He saw a gap between the winter-sports community and actions being taken to address the problem, noting that skiing and snowboarding are estimated to contribute $62 billion annually to the U.S. economy and support  more than 940,000 jobs.

on Facebook on LinkedIn