Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, has stepped down from the ice cream company that bears his name, saying parent company Unilever has stripped the brand of its independence and curtailed its social activism.
In an open letter shared by co-founder Ben Cohen on social media Wednesday, Greenfield said he could no longer remain involved “in good conscience” with a business that, in his view, has been silenced. He pointed to the 2000 merger agreement with Unilever, which was intended to protect the Vermont-based brand’s activist mission, as a safeguard now undermined.
Ben & Jerry’s has been outspoken on global and domestic issues for decades, but its clashes with Unilever intensified after 2021, when it announced it would stop sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The company has since sued its parent over alleged interference and described the ongoing Gaza conflict as genocide, a rare stance for a U.S. corporate brand.
Greenfield’s departure comes as Ben & Jerry’s is pressing to spin off from Unilever ahead of the planned stock listing of Magnum, another ice cream label owned by the multinational. Last week, Cohen renewed calls to “free Ben & Jerry’s,” saying a proposed sale valued between \$1.5 billion and \$2.5 billion had been rejected.
A spokesperson for Unilever’s ice cream division, Magnum, disputed Greenfield’s claims, saying the company had sought constructive dialogue with both founders. Magnum confirmed that Greenfield stepped down as a brand ambassador and noted he is not involved in the lawsuit.
The split underscores a growing disparity between the company’s founding principles and its corporate parent. Greenfield and Cohen, who launched the brand from a converted gas station in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978, built it on a model of blending profits with progressive causes.
Source: USA Today