Why Ben & Jerry's Fresh Georgia Peach Ice Cream Was Discontinued

Consumers sometimes fall in love with a product, only to discover one day that it's missing from shelves with no explanation. That wasn't the case for Ben & Jerry's Fresh Georgia Peach ice cream, however. A pre-Y2K flavor introduced in 1986, the dessert was exactly what its name suggested: vanilla ice cream packed with fresh Georgia peaches — a combo plenty of people can get behind. Yet, just five years after its freezer-section debut, the treat was discontinued and sent to the flavor graveyard.

Some rumblings on the internet suggest that consumers didn't take to Fresh Georgia Peach ice cream; however, considering that it stuck around longer than some of its fellow graveyard residents (including Peanut Butter and Jelly, which only lasted a year), it's safe to say that wasn't the reasoning. In fact, we know it wasn't, as the company told us exactly what sent this fruity ice cream to the great waffle cone in the sky. The flavor's epitaph in Ben & Jerry's ice cream cemetery (which fans can visit in person or online) reads as such: "Fresh-picked peaches / trucked from Georgia / Tasted great but couldn't last / 'Cuz Georgia's quite a-ways away / & trucks don't go that fast."

Since Georgia and Vermont are over 1,200 miles apart, it's no wonder that transporting truckloads of the stone fruit to Ben & Jerry's Waterbury, Vermont factory proved difficult. Despite being nicknamed the Peach State, however, Georgia isn't the only place where peaches are grown in the U.S., so why didn't the company start sourcing the fruit from closer regions like New Jersey, another major peach producer?

To state the obvious, "Georgia" was in the flavor's name, so sourcing peaches from elsewhere would have been disingenuous on Ben & Jerry's part. Additionally, this would have potentially altered the way the frozen treat tasted. Despite having some not-so-sweet origins, Georgia peaches are widely regarded as being juicier, more flavorful, and of overall higher quality than peaches grown in other states due to Georgia's climate and red clay soil.

Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any other peachy flavors in Ben & Jerry's current arsenal. If you feel strongly about tasting Fresh Georgia Peach ice cream again, though, you can request that the company resurrect the flavor on its website.