About ten years ago the company was an active supporter in a grassroots campaign to keep one of the large big-box stores (I think it was Wal-Mart) out of Vermont. The state has always had a reputation for being extremely protective of its rural image (often to the detriment of their own financial well-being).
One of the newspapers did a little research and found out that even as they were opposing the construction of the state's first Wal-Mart store, Ben & Jerry's had already signed an agreement with Wal-Mart giving them the exclusive right to operate ice cream stands within Wal-Mart stores in Vermont once they did get built.