- One more bite for the camera. - One more bite of coffee fudge.
My name is Eric Fredette. I am a Ben & Jerry’s Flavor Guru,
and I have the best job in the whole world.
I was working previously at the manufacturer of cookie
dough pieces for cookie dough ice cream, so I had met the
entire team here. And then when a position opened up I called
and said, “Hey. Let’s make ice cream.”
Everyone asks the same questions when you tell them that you make
ice cream for a living: “Which flavors do you make?” and
“Where is it? Do you have some in the freezer right now?”
And I don’t usually, so...
I go to the grocery store and I look in the freezer case and
I go, “That one’s mine, that one’s mine, that one’s mine,
that one’s mine…”
Rockin’ Blondies, Peanut Butter Half Baked, Peanuts and Popcorn.
PB and J, I thought was amazing. People didn’t get it.
The Brownie Batter Core was mine. Chocolate Therapy...
If you like chocolate, that is your flavor.
I’m in trouble all the time when friends come over and there’s
no ice cream.
So, a typical day: first thing in the morning, 9am, you are
sitting in the cutting room, tasting ice cream. No coffee,
you want a clean palate for that. Some mornings, very early,
you could be on the factory floor testing something new
or making a new item for the first time.
Then, usually coffee.
Getting ingredients out, setting up machines, and then usually
afternoons, back to either meetings or I usually like to
make ice cream in the afternoon.
All right, we’re going to get some mix and we’re goin’ to get started.
So today, we have this awesome breakfast stout and we’re goin'
add enough to flavor the mix.
I would like a little more beer flavor.
So, we’re going to use this bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup.
This is the point of no return. Once the ice cream is out,
we can’t put it back in.
It’s nice to come in and be able to make something that
no one potentially will ever see.
The best moment ever.
I don’t tell people what I’m working on. I don’t even tell
my wife what I’m working on ‘cause she’s been known to
spill the beans at gatherings.
Um, so, I just don’t tell her anymore. I bring home
all the new stuff and it’s like a surprise when I
bring it home, so it’s much better that way.
So, we are at the Downtown Scoop Shop. It’s our flagship store in
Burlington, Vermont.
It’s always fun to come down and see our consumers pick
something that potentially I have made and the joy on
their face when they get the first lick on their cone.
This is Truffle Kerfuffle.
The salted ganache swirl cuts the sweetness and the
pecans are also salted so you get that salty-sweet
balance and the vanilla ice cream.
I talk a lot, but I developed the flavor so I get to talk
about it. Spoons are right here.
I’m one of eight children, so there was always meals for 10
on the table that needed to be made, so I started cooking very
early. I guess I was encouraged, almost, to play with my food.
I feel the things that I liked at as a child I still love
because they’re nostalgic. They bring back good memories.
It evokes an emotional response, usually.
I remember my first ice cream project when I first started.
First day, the director comes out, is like, "We’re going to
start a line of low fat ice creams,
and you’re going to make those happen.
It was epic. It was like so much fun for me, and it’s pretty much
been the same for the next 21 years.
We have a full-on flavor graveyard at the Waterbury site.
I do have flavors that are in the graveyard, and we put one to
rest last summer, I think it was.
I made Rainforest Crunch, which was a beloved flavor that is in
the graveyard. And I got to preside over the ceremony as
the clergy. We had mourners and everything.
I’m constantly looking at several food blogs in my
inbox every day. The magazines at the checkout at the grocery
store. New restaurant openings. The things that I see as edgy
and new, I definitely try to adopt and figure out a way
to make it work.
Everybody has an idea. We get some of our best ideas from
people just off the cuff saying, "This would be really cool in
ice cream." Chunky Monkey. Chubby Hubby. Cherry Garcia.
All fan write-ins, so we want your ideas.
They're great.
There are definitely some flavors that I thought would be
amazing that didn’t really work out.
Peanuts and popcorn is probably a really good example.
So, caramel corn and toffee peanuts, right, like Cracker
Jacks. After a couple weeks and popcorn gets soggy, not so good.
You can tell if someone really loves what they do by what they
produce. And when you love it, no matter what it is... drawing,
art, just anything... If you love it, you can tell by the
finished product.
I do make the best ice cream in the world,
there’s no doubt about it.
My job is my therapy.
And I do need a lot of therapy some days.