Olympic Snowboarder Hannah Teter On Board With Ben & Jerry's
Friday, November 20, 2009 at 08:20PM 
November 20, 2009: In the world of Ben & Jerry's, the highest accolade is to have an ice cream flavor created for and named in your honor. Cherry Garcia was named for Jerry Garcia. Imagine Whirled Peace paid tribute to John Lennon. And Phish Food was named after the band Phish. So it's in all honesty when Olympic snowboarder Hannah Teter, upon hearing that Ben & Jerry's created Maple Blondie in her honor, replied, “I’m so amped to have my very own Ben & Jerry’s flavor."
Ben & Jerry's, a a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever, said that the ice cream was the first from the company created for an athlete. Like Ben & Jerry's, Teter's home state is Vermont, so the ingredients reflect both her background and her style: Maple Blondie is a rich and creamy maple ice cream with blonde brownie pieces and a smooth maple caramel swirl.
Maple Blondie will be be available in Scoop Shops nationwide starting late November and in pints on grocery store shelves mid-December. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Hannah’s Gold, Teter’s Vermont maple syrup company that donates 100% of its profits to funding infrastructure and humanitarian needs in the African village of Kirindon.
To support the product, Ben & Jerry's is launching a “Vermont Snowboard Getaway” sweepstakes. From Dec. 1-Jan. 30, visitors to www.BenJerry.com can enter to win a grand prize winner of a trip for two to Vermont to attend the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships and other goodies. Ten first-prize winners receive other prizes. A pre-launch effort on Facebook and Twitter offered clues to the "mystery celebrity" behind Ben & Jerry's new limited-edition flavor.
Teter, who won a gold medal in women's Halfpipe at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, is currently preparing for the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
“It’s great to have support from my home state, and a cool way to further support Hannah’s Gold and all the work we’re doing in Kirindon, Kenya," Teter said in a statement.
According to Walt Freese, chief euphoria officer for Ben & Jerry’s, “We couldn’t think of a better athlete or humanitarian to honor with a flavor this year. Hannah’s not only a Vermont star, but making a big impact on countless people in Kirindon that desperately need humanitarian help. We’ll be cheering her on as she competes this winter and as she continues her important work in Africa.”