Greyston Bakery was founded in Riverdale, New York, by Bernie Glassman, a Zen Buddhist. Although it is a for-profit company, its profits go to its non-profit parent organization, the Greyston Foundation, where they are used on behalf of the local community.

History

The bakery was founded in 1982. Later that decade, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...

 ice cream company agreed to purchase Greyston Bakery brownies for chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. In 2004, Greyston Bakery moved to a larger facility designed by Maya Lin

Maya Lin

Maya Ying Lin is an American artist who is known for her work in sculpture and landscape art. She is the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Personal life:...

to accommodate growth.

Social mission

The company aims to hire the hard-to-employ and is known for its "open hiring" practices, where anyone can sign up regardless of background. All profit from the company go to the Greyston Foundation, which uses it for low-income housing, day care open to the community, a medical center for those with AIDS, and other community endeavors.

Products

Greyston Bakery is the sole supplier of brownies for Ben & Jerry's, which is its main client. The bakery has also recently started its own line of the small cakes, branded as Do-Goodie Brownies.