Marrakech – Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has resigned from the iconic ice cream brand after nearly 50 years, citing restrictions on the company’s social activism under parent company Unilever. 

 

The announcement deepens an ongoing conflict surrounding the brand’s independence and political stances.

In a letter shared on social media by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Mr Greenfield said the Cherry Garcia maker had lost its independence after Unilever limited its social activism. 

“Leaving the firm was one of the hardest and most painful decisions I have ever made,” he wrote, but added he could no longer “in good conscience” work for a business that had been “silenced” by Unilever.

The dispute traces back to 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in Palestine, a move that drew widespread attention and criticism.

Speaking to Radio 4, Cohen said, “Jerry has a really big heart and this conflict with Unilever was breaking it.”

“My heart leads me to continue to work inside the company to advocate for its independence so that it can actualise the social mission, the values that it was founded on and has maintained for over 40 years.”

He added that Unilever “has not been abiding by the terms of the acquisition agreement” and that “they’ve essentially been usurping the power of the independent board of directors which has legal authority over the social mission of the company, and now Magnum is proceeding in the same fashion. They’ve also been muzzling the company.”

A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is being spun off from Unilever, said the firm had been in dialogue with the founders but disagreed with Mr Greenfield’s stance. 

“We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” the spokesperson said.

Investment partner Anna Macdonald commented on Greenfield’s departure, noting that the brand “built a brand all about irreverence and activism and advocacy” and that Unilever had originally agreed to “continue these missions” when it acquired the company in 2000. 

She added that in recent years, Unilever may have attempted to limit the company’s activism, especially regarding Israel and Gaza.

Earlier this year, Ben & Jerry’s filed a legal case in a US court alleging that Unilever violated a merger agreement by trying to silence the company’s “social mission.” 

In March, the brand’s chief executive, David Stever, was removed by Unilever amid the dispute.

Cohen, who remains with the company, was recently arrested during a protest in the US Senate over military aid to Israel and humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Protesters disrupted a hearing while Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was testifying. 

He was charged with a misdemeanour, while six other demonstrators face more serious charges.