Dive into the frosty rivalry between Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs, where flavor meets strategy. Discuss why the two brands seldom overlap in offerings and explore the intriguing idea of tacit collusion in the ice cream market. Discover how their unique approaches reflect broader economic principles and balance capitalism with consumer choice. Learn about pricing strategies and the legal nuances of competition, all while savoring the sweet but complex world of frozen desserts.
24:08
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
Chunky Beginnings
Christopher Sullivan, an economist, loved ice cream, especially his grandmother's chunky homemade kind.
He later became a fan of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey.
insights INSIGHT
The Chunk Divide
Ben & Jerry's makes chunky ice cream, while Häagen-Dazs makes smooth ice cream, despite both having the capability to make either.
This observation sparked Sullivan's investigation into potential collusion.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Ice Cream Wars
Häagen-Dazs, launched in 1960, initially focused on smooth ice cream.
Ben & Jerry's, entering in 1978, specialized in chunky flavors, leading to a lawsuit and market division.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Take a look in any supermarket ice cream freezer section and you may see a mystery. There are big containers of the typical ice cream brands: Breyers, Turkey Hill, and Edy's. And there are specialty brands that make gelato, low-fat and vegan ice creams. And then there are the fancy pints: which is mostly Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs.
Häagen-Dazs has flavors like vanilla, chocolate, pistachio—the sort of flavors that run smooth. And then Ben & Jerry's specializes in chunky flavors: Cherry Garcia, The Tonight Dough, Chunky Monkey, etc. The two hardly ever cross into the other's turf. Why?
It's possible they are experiencing something common to natural competition—they are specializing in what works best for them. But, as Christopher Sullivan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison suspects, the two companies may be engaging in what is known as "tacit collusion," where two parties silently agree to... stick to their own territory.
We try to get to the creamy core of what makes up a conspiracy, and how the consumer eventually loses out in this cold, cold war.
Today's episode was produced by Willa Rubin and Alyssa Jeong Perry. It was engineered by Josh Newell and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was edited by Jess Jiang.
Planet Money