Ben & Jerry's and Colin Kaepernick Team Up on a Vegan Ice Cream Flavor Called 'Change the Whirled'

Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry's is continuing their fight against systemic oppression through a new partnership with social activist Colin Kaepernick.

The former NFL star was honored on Thursday with a new flavor, Change the Whirled. It celebrates Kaepernick and his efforts to lift up and educate Black and Brown communities about their rights.

The dessert is vegan, like Kaepernick, and features a non-dairy caramel sun butter base that is swirled with fudge chips, graham crackers, and chocolate cookies.

"I'm honored to partner with Ben & Jerry's on Change the Whirled," said Kaepernick, in a press release. "Their commitment to challenging the anti-Black roots of policing in the United States demonstrates a material concern for the wellbeing of Black and Brown communities. My hope is that this partnership will amplify calls to defund and abolish the police and to invest in futures that can make us safer, healthier, and truly free."

100% of Kaepernick's portion of proceeds from each pint sold will go towards his Know Your Rights Camp Foundation, which he started in 2016 in Oakland, Calif.

"We deeply respect how Colin uses his voice to protest racism, white supremacy, and police violence through the belief that love is at the root of our resistance," said Matthew McCarthy, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s in a press release. "We have tremendous hope in what we can accomplish together."

Change the Whirled will be a permanent addition to Ben & Jerry's ice cream line up starting in January 2021. The flavor will be available at grocery stores nationwide for about $5 a pint.

Ben & Jerry’s co-founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, have long made their voices heard about social justice causes, both through their ice cream flavors and their own activism.

In September 2019, Ben & Jerry's released an ice cream flavor, Justice Remix'd, that is dedicated to criminal justice reform. Earlier, in 2018, the company announced the flavor Pecan Resist, aimed at resisting the “regressive and discriminatory policies” of President Donald Trump’s administration.

Other socially conscious Ben & Jerry’s flavors include Save Our Swirled, aimed at bringing attention to climate change, and I Dough, I Dough, renamed in celebration of the legalization of same-sex marriage.