Ben & Jerry’s will close its UVM Davis Center scoop shop retail outlet at the end of the spring semester, after 10 years in the student center’s Marketpace, the company announced.

"We plan to maintain a strong presence on campus through our support of many of UVM’s student events and our own on-campus events and activations,” said Ryan Midden, Flagship Quality Manager for the ice cream maker. “We’re proud to have been an original tenant of the Davis Center and to have helped anchor the progressive, Leed-certified building for so long. We will continue to be a fixture in the Burlington scene for the UVM community moving forward.”

“Ben & Jerry’s has been a great partner to UVM, operating its scoop shop on campus for a decade,” said Melissa Zelazny, director of UVM Dining. UVM will continue to sell Ben & Jerry’s products in its retail locations, Zelazny said.

UVM Dining is in the process of considering  options for the Davis Center space Ben & Jerry’s occupies, Zelazny said.

“Adding a smoothie outlet is a strong possibility,” she said. “Smoothies are popular among college students, and the university is currently without a dedicated smoothie operation. We are looking at concepts that are flexible in a small footprint.”

In addition, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is working with UVM Dining and community partners to explore options to use UVM milk produced at the Miller Research Farm to make a premium UVM ice cream that would be sold in in the space, Zelazny said.

The ice cream would engage students in not only producing milk through the CREAM program, but also in developing flavors, design and marketing.

Before final decisions are made, UVM Dining will seek the input of student via focus groups and informal interviews.  Depending on the concept, a new outlet could open as early as the fall of 2017.