Ben & Jerry’s

File hide and seek

For ice cream innovator Ben & Jerry’s, local scoop shop franchises are not just channels for distributing the latest catchy flavour names. They’re platforms for delivering on Ben & Jerry’s social missions – such as supporting fair trade and reversing climate change. Scoop shops play an essential role in the company’s success, so corporate interaction with them is vital. Unfortunately, because company files were saved across everything from external hard drives to Microsoft SharePoint to team members’ PCs, managing the paperwork associated with shops in Australia and New Zealand became chaotic. “We were wasting a lot of time chasing down documents”, explains Adrian DiTonto, National Retail Operations Manager for Ben & Jerry’s Unilever Australia. “It could take a week to find a franchise agreement or to chase down shop photos from a third party. Sometimes we just couldn’t find files at all.”

Consistency and smoother workflows

Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, decided to have DiTonto and his partners start using Dropbox to store and share files. As DiTonto says, “Dropbox lets us share relevant, up-to-date information with suppliers, contractors and anyone else involved in a project. If we make changes to a file, everyone knows about it. Our lives have become a lot easier with these smoother processes in place.” Dropbox has also helped solve pain points around sharing large files. Previously, files would have to be zipped or sent in a chain of emails, but now DiTonto and his team exchange them using shared links. The team has also started using Dropbox Paper to manage projects. "We create tasks, @mentions to assign them and can easily embed Excel templates for store managers to use," DiTonto says. "In the past, this would all happen over email, but with Paper it’s much easier to keep everyone on the same page.”

More shops, more satisfied customers

Since relocating their files to Dropbox, the Ben & Jerry’s Retail Ops team has had more time to focus on moving scoop shop projects forward. Rather than having to hunt down misplaced files, employees and contractors can access what they need instantly and maintain their momentum. “Because Australia is the benchmark for Ben & Jerry’s retail rollouts, I’ve had a lot of inquiries from colleagues in other markets about adopting the same timesaving methods we’ve put in place here,” says DiTonto. “Dropbox is the key to stopping wasteful conversations and giving individuals more autonomy.” By establishing new efficiencies, Dropbox has helped Ben & Jerry’s streamline retail launches – which ultimately supports the company’s growth and social mission. “We always want to make sure franchisees are getting what they paid for,” DiTonto adds. “Dropbox keeps us all in the same loop, working toward the same goal. It’s good for their business and for ours as a whole.”