Feb 23, 2007 9:31 AM

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc will expand production to a plant in Henderson NV, about 16 miles from Las Vegas. Owned by Unilever, the ice cream maker’s Netherlands-based parent company, the Nevada facility produces Breyers and Good Humor ice cream.

South Burlington VT-based Ben & Jerry’s will use one production line for ice cream pints and will be supplied with growth hormone-free milk from Northern California dairy cattle. The firm wants to cut its reliance on cross-country trucking and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The Henderson site will be the only Ben and Jerry’s plant in the United States outside of Vermont making pints of ice cream for retail purchase. Ice cream bars and cones are produced at a Sikeston MO operation, but the only US plants producing pints are in Waterbury and St Albans VT. The move will not affect production or employment at the two Vermont plants. Ben & Jerry’s has 516 employees in that state.