Ben & Jerry’s newest flavour of ice cream, Chocolate Macadamia, goes beyond being fun and tasting good. It’s a cup (or cone) of love and social responsibility.

Launched at all Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops island wide on Monday, Chocolate Macadamia is a scrumptious blend of vanilla and double dip chocolate ice cream, mixed with whole (and we mean whole) chocolate-covered Macadamia nuts.

It’s not just an ordinary scoop of ice cream, and not just because it tastes really good.

Chocolate Macadamia is among one of Ben & Jerry’s fair trade flavours, which include popular favourites like Vanilla, Coffee, Chocolate, Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

And for the case of Chocolate Macadamia specifically, it means that the ice cream is made with ingredients sourced conscientiously from fair-trade farms around the world, using cocoa from Santa Domingo, vanilla from Indonesia, and handpicked macadamia nuts from Malawi, blended together with dairy from farmers who have pledged not to treat their cows with rBGH, a growth hormone that increases the risk of health problems in cows.

This means that as you enjoy your scoop of Chocolate Macadamia ice cream, you know you are doing some good towards the world through supporting Ben & Jerry’s work.

Chocolate Macadamia is launched under Ben & Jerry’s global campaign, It’s What’s Inside That Counts. This campaign is an effort to raise awareness about how values-led sourcing helps to improve the lives of farmers, families and communities across the world by supporting Fair Trade suppliers.

“You could say that Chocolate Macadamia is the world’s yummiest mission statement,” says Benjamin Tng, Ben & Jerry’s Singapore Brand Champion.

Ben & Jerry’s has also come up with the world’s first ever global consumer contest, Do The World a Flavor, where aspiring flavor-makers can enter their own ice cream concoction. The winning flavor will be produced and launched globally.

From April 14 – May 26, local ice cream fans can log on to the Ben & Jerry’s Singapore website at www.benjerrys.com.sg and concoct a cool new flavour using the online flavour generator.

One winner will be picked from each participating country and the winner will receive a year’s supply of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and a seven-day trip to the Dominican Republic in November 2009, where they will get a rare chance to hang out with company co-founders Ben & Jerry and witness the benefits of Values-Led sourcing first hand at a Fair Trade farm.

One lucky grand prizewinner will also see their awesomeness in action when their winning concoction becomes Ben & Jerry’s new flavor, available worldwide in March 2010.

Doing good in a scoop of ice cream? Now that’s unheard of.

Taste Test

The ice cream is smooth, creamy and velvety, but not overwhelming.

The savory taste of macadamia matches impeccably with sweet chocolate ice cream, and the nuts also make for a very delightful chewy texture. It’s really akin to having maltesers in your ice cream, but much better.

The macadamia nuts are the highlight in this scoop, it’s unfortunate that the amount you get is left up to luck. While I got three, my friends got five and eight nuts in their ice cream respectively.

Altogether, Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Macadamia ice cream is quite an awesome package. Knowing that you’re saving the world while savoring the chocolatey goodness makes it taste even better.