Is the Popular Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour in Waterbury, VT Worth It?

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This past fall (2024), I went on an 11-day road trip around New England and…yeah, I know. That’s a FAST pace for covering six states. We was ZOOMIN’. Once we neared the end of our trip and hit New Hampshire and Vermont (we stayed in Postcard Cabins!), we were going back and forth on whether or not to take the drive up for the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour.

It was cold. We were tired. And honestly it was FAR. From our cabin outside of Concord, New Hampshire, Waterbury Vermont where they host the factory tours was about a 2-hour drive ONE WAY.

Unless you’re positioned in like Burlington, Vermont, the Ben & Jerry’s factory is pretty out of the way, even in New England where the states are super close together. So if you’re in the position I was (aka, far away), you may be wondering if it’s worth it to do the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour.

Spoiler, we ended up making the journey ourselves, but it was a serious debate if we should at all. Of course, it’s all subjective, but feel free to keep reading about my experience and see if it’s worth it for you!

What is the Factory Tour?

If you didn’t already know that Ben & Jerry’s had a factory tour, lemme give you the overview. So yes, Ben & Jerry’s, the now global ice cream brand that is sold on almost all the continents, has a factory in Waterbury, Vermont that is open for tourist to view their manufacturing setup.

It’s not the original-original Ben & Jerry’s, there’s a plaque in Burlington that memorializes that location, but it is their first factory and the only one open to the public. The Waterbury location manufactures upwards of 350,000 pints of ice cream PER DAY, and during their factory tours, guests can get a look at the process and also learn about the company’s early days.

To give a little context, Ben & Jerry’s first opened in 1978 as a small scoop shop in a Burlington gas station. In under ten years, they had grown to needing their own manufacturing site (Waterbury) and they began their guided tours in 1986.

The Ben & Jerry’s factory tours are 30 minutes and guided by an extremely knowledgeable employee. You watch a movie, walk through a mezzanine overlooking the production floor, and then you get to sample a few flavors!

Please note, since this is an operational manufacturing team, there may or may not be active production during your tour due to varying production schedules. Regardless of that though, you will still see the manufacturing line.

Alright, so now that you know what your the Ben & Jerry’s factory tours are, let’s talk about if it lives up to the hype!

Logistics

address	1281 Waterbury-Stowe Road Waterbury, VT 05676
hours	Operating hours: daily 10:00am-6:00pm* Last tour leaves at 5:00pm
admission price	$6 for adults + service fee for all tickets $5 for seniors (age 65+) $1 for children (age 2-12)
phone number	802-337-1201

**closed Christmas & New Year’s Day

The most important thing to know about the Ben & Jerry’s factory tours is that you 100% SHOULD book tickets in advance. In fact, the Ben & Jerry’s factory tours have literally sold out EVERY DAY since their reopening. Tickets are released two weeks in advance so PLEASE try to book your tickets as soon as possible to ensure a guaranteed spot for the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour.

Onsite parking is free. There is a smaller parking lot that is paved, then additional parking on an unpaved lot right behind. The factory (and tour) is ADA accessible and there is also accessible parking spaces on the paved lot – drop offs are also admissible. If needed, you can rent a wheelchair free of chair while at the factory and/or site. Ask any staff member and they can direct you to the wheelchair pick up for use during your visit. I love that!

Since it is an operational manufacturing site, there are no dogs or other pets allowed inside the building or on Ben & Jerry’s factory tour outside of registered service animals.

What if You Can’t Get Tickets

Okay, so what if you decide you want to take the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour, but for whatever reason you don’t get tickets. You forget to reserve when the tickets drop, or you think of visiting last minute and everything is already sold out. Are you out of luck?

Well…maybe. Maybe not.

There is usually *some* day-of/walk-in tickets available, but it varies each day based on staffing and any last minute cancellations. I honestly wouldn’t bet on it, especially not enough to make a long journey for the slim chance (more on that later), but if it’s your last option then I suggest to arrive AT opening. Those tickets go fast too!

However if you’re still unsuccessful at snagging tickets for the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour, you can still visit and enjoy a scoop of ice cream, browse their gift shop with merch, and learn fun facts posted around the walls of the building. You can also browse the “Flavor Graveyard” and read about all the discontinued flavors!

Experience

Now my experience with the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour goes way back to 2017. I had taken a girls road-trip from Boston to Quebec, Canada with friends I knew since high school and undergrad and we made a pitstop before Burlington at the Waterbury factory.

I remember suggesting to the group when we were there that we take the tour, they happened to have last-minute tickets, and the rest of the group was down. Except one person. My friend’s roommate (who I didn’t know but tagged along) said SHE DIDNT WANT TO. As we walked back to the car with just our scoop of ice cream, I remembered thinking that it was such a wasted opportunity because when the heck would I be back in the area??

Also, at the Canadian border, that same girl commented that my hair in my passport picture looked “funny” and she made us take public transit in Montreal in the FREEZING COLD because she didn’t want to drive but also didn’t want any of us to drive either and we wasted precious daylight waiting around when we could’ve seen a lot more of the city.

Can you tell I’m still peeved?

Anyways, although we were 2 hours away from the factory and it was severely out of the way on this road trip, I didn’t want a missed opportunity. However, I remembered the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour way too late and all the reservations were already booked. We decided to chance it and show up for the day-of tickets and arrived an hour after they opened…and they were all sold out for the day 🙁

BUT!!! They had an opening for the next day. We mulled it over for a bit, because it would mean another 4-hour roundtrip drive out Waterbury, and more time used up of our precious 11 days, but again…I couldn’t let it slip by again.

The next day we returned and although it was raining, we grabbed a scoop of ice cream (one seasonal, one standard favorite) and waited for our tour to start. We were led to a separate area to watch an informative (and funny) short film on the early days of Ben & Jerry’s.

We were a lucky tour group as they had extra samples so we got one as we walked to the factory mezzanine. It was a chocolate flavor, so I didn’t like it, but the guide did not if anyone needed substitutions to let her know and she could try to get an alternative. I was just too shy to ask for one haha.

The mezzanine overlooks the production floor and that day they were in production so we could see the freshly swirled pints go down the production belt. The guide explained the production process to us and since I work in manufacturing, I loved hearing the ins and outs of their factory operations, though there’s no pictures allowed during this part.

After, we were led to the tasting area, or the Flavor Room, for more samples and a bit of insight on more recent company workings. Again, it was a flavor that I didn’t like (I’m a picky eater), but this time I did mention something and I got a delicious sorbet sample! The tour was pretty spot on 30 minutes, and in total we spent about an hour and a half at the Waterbury site.

Does Ben & Jerry’s Support Genocide?

One thing that plagued my mind during the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour was the fact that Ben & Jerry’s had a factory in Israel.

Ever since the Israeli Border Patrol racially profiled and detained me for hours on my trip to Bethlehem, Palestine, I more thoroughly educated myself on the history of Palestine’s occupation and side-eyed anything having to do with Israel. In the most recent onslaught of blatant Palestinian genocide at the hands of Israel and the countries that enable it, I can’t ignore blatant company complacency in ethnic cleansing and genocide.

During the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour, they mentioned that the company stands for human rights all around the world, and have been vocal about injustices both near and far. So…do you see the potential hypocrisy in this situation?

While they didn’t answer this during the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour, I did my own research on the (long) drive back to our cabin. Officially, Ben & Jerry’s pulled production out of Israel back in 2021, when there was yet another uptick in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. They have been vocal that they will not be selling their ice cream in OPT (occupied Palestine territories) due to the human rights violations and have repeatedly called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire since October 7th, 2024.

However, there is a bit of a cavaet.

Due to a licensing agreement, the former distributor of Ben & Jerry’s in Israel, Unilever, sold the license and trademark rights to the Hebrew and Arabic language versions of Ben & Jerry’s to an Israeli company under a new ice cream name – Blue & White Ice Cream Ltd.

There is an ongoing standoff between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever, with Ben & Jerry’s loudly rejected any form of knockoff being sold in their likeness. Meanwhile, the Israeli press was trying to (unsuccesfully) gaslight the media into thinking they “won” and they have claim to sell Ben & Jerry’s all throughout the region.

Sound familiar?

Ben & Jerry’s is consistent and clear with their position, “[Ben & Jerry’s] no longer does any business in Israel and the ice cream that’s sold there with its branding is simply NOT Ben & Jerry’s.” Hear hear.

Conclusion: Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour

So that was my experience with the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour! Was it worth it? Personally for me, yes because it finally felt like redemption from all those years ago – and I do like their ice cream! However, I’d strongly recommend you get tickets in advance if you’re interested. For most people, I don’t think chancing a last-minute day-of Ben & Jerry’s factory tour is worth the journey.

But it was cute!

Have you ever taken the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour in Waterbury? Did you think it was worth it? Let me know in the comments below!

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