The History of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream is one of the brand’s most popular flavors. In 1996, Ben & Jerry's reached out to the members of Phish, a psychedelic jam band formed in the early 1980s, to discuss a potential collaboration. Famously opposed to “selling out,” Phish rejected the collaboration offer from their fellow Vermont natives. However, after learning that Ben & Jerry’s was aligned with their own efforts to benefit children’s welfare and the environment, the members of Phish changed their minds and agreed to work with the Ben & Jerry’s team to create a collaboration flavor. Not only does the flavor mark the only time that Phish has ever allowed the band name to be used for product creation, but it is also one of the only instances wherein Ben & Jerry’s allowed input from a collaborator on the flavor (Phish specifically requested that caramel be included). The cleverly named Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream made its debut in 1997 at a sold-out, one-night-only concert/ice cream launch party at Vermont's Flynn Theatre. Since then, it has become one of Ben & Jerry’s longest-lasting and most popular flavors, beloved just like its celebrity-inspired predecessor flavor, Cherry Garcia. Today, there is even a non-dairy version of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream!