Where must the Ben Jerrys Confidential Manual be kept?
Ben_Jerrys Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
After you and your manager complete Scoop U Training to our satisfaction, we will provide you with access, via electronic media, for the term of your franchise. The Manual will be provided through electronic files. We will provide you with the Manual, as well as other instructional materials, through electronic media, including the Internet or the Ben & Jerry's Extranet. You must treat the Manual, any other materials created for or approved for use in the operation of your Shop, and the information contained in them, as confidential, and must use reasonable efforts to maintain this information (both in electronic and written format) as proprietary and confidential. You must not copy, download, print or otherwise reproduce these materials or otherwise make them available to any unauthorized person. The Manual will remain our sole property. You must keep it accessible only in a secure place on the Shop premises or at the office which supports the Shop.
The Manual contains standards, methods, policies, guidelines and procedures, some of which are mandatory and others of which are suggestions. We may revise the contents of the Manual periodically. You must ensure that the version of the Manual to which you refer is the most current version. If there is a dispute as to the contents of the Manual, the terms of the master version, which we maintain at our home office, will control.
Source: Item 14 — PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION (FDD pages 65–66)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Ben Jerrys's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Confidential Manual must be kept accessible only in a secure place on the Shop premises or at the office which supports the Shop. The manual is provided to the franchisee via electronic media after the franchisee and their manager complete Scoop U Training.
Ben Jerrys retains sole ownership of the manual, and franchisees are responsible for ensuring that they are referencing the most current version. In the event of a dispute regarding the manual's contents, the master version maintained at Ben Jerrys's home office will be the controlling document.
As the manual is provided electronically, franchisees must ensure it is only accessed electronically from a secure place on the premises. Franchisees are also prohibited from downloading, copying, duplicating, recording, or reproducing the manual in any way, or making it available to unauthorized persons. This highlights the importance of data security and access control for Ben Jerrys franchisees.