Surprising reason why Ben & Jerry's ice cream is always so chunky

It's one of the most well-known brands of ice cream out there, but a trademark characteristic of Ben & Jerry's ice cream has surprising origins.

If you've ever indulged in a tub of Ben & Jerry's you've probably noticed one thing about it which is a bit different from other types of ice cream.

Yes, there's the colourful packaging with the happy-looking cows, or the range of fun flavours.

But what do Phish Food, Cookie Dough, and Caramel Chew Chew all have in common?

Well, the clue is in the name of that last one - it's that Ben & Jerry's ice creams often have chewy and crunchy bits added in.

This is a far cry from soft serve Mr Whippy, and there's a specific reason why Ben & Jerry's does this.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream is hugely popular due to its unique, chunky texture (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

It's because one of the founders of the company, Ben Cohen, has a limited sense of smell and taste.

This condition, called anosmia, meant that when the pair were developing their recipes, Ben often found it difficult to tell the difference in flavours with a smoother ice cream.

Anosmia is a condition affecting the sense of smell and taste. Someone with anosmia will not be able to pick up on scents very well, and because smell forms a large part of how we taste things that means that the sense of taste can also be dulled as a result.

Many of us became temporarily familiar with the condition in 2020 as anosmia is one of the symptoms of Covid-19.

So to compensate, the pair began adding more and more different textures, whether it's crunchy like chocolate chips or nuts, gooey caramel, or the doughy texture of chocolate brownies and, well, cookie dough!

Ben and Jerry had to switch things up when developing their recipes (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Ben has previously opened up about the origins of Ben & Jerry's unique, chunky style of ice cream.

In an interview with Delish in 2021, he said: "Ice cream, to me, is about texture. It's the sensation of it melting in your mouth, the smooth creaminess. With regular [non-Ben & Jerry's] ice cream, I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in the flavors.

"When Jerry and I first started creating the flavours [in the 1970s], he'd give me something to taste. He'd say, 'Well, how do you like it?' I said, 'It's good. But I can't tell what flavour it is.' So he would just keep on adding more flavouring until I could guess."

So there you have it, just because you can't smell and taste doesn't mean you can't found a hugely successful ice cream business!

Words by Kit Roberts