Ben & Jerry's co-founder resigns over social mission being 'silenced'
Ben & Jerry's co-founder resigns over social mission being 'silenced'
One of the two American co-founders from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down from the business due to concerns that its social mission was being compromised by its parent company, Unilever.
Jerry Greenfield, 74, said in a letter on X shared by his co-founder, Ben Cohen, 74, that he had decided he couldn't "in good conscience" remain an employee of the company and that "It was always about more than just ice cream."
Greenfield had been with the company for 47 years.
"What has made their work so important to me, and what allowed the company to be more than just an ice cream company, was the independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed when Unilever bought the company,” he wrote.
“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry's stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice, and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world.”
He added that their ability to do this was due to a unique merger agreement the company had negotiated with Unilever, which had enshrined its social mission and values in the company's governance structure.
"From the very beginning, Ben and I believed that our values and the pursuit of justice were more important than the company itself."
But he says the independence they had negotiated had disappeared.
Ben & Jerry's has been embroiled in a long-running feud with its parent company, particularly over the business operating in illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories. In 2021, the company announced it would no longer sell ice cream in the occupied territories, sparking the initial legal dispute with Unilever.
In his letter on Tuesday, Greenfield said that the company’s ability to speak out came at a time when civil rights, voting rights, the rights of women, immigrants, and the LGBTQ community were under attack by the "current administration", referring to the leadership of US President Donald Trump, though his name was not mentioned.
“It's easy to stand up and speak out when there's nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.”
Palestine activism
The resignation is the latest fight in a longstanding battle by Ben & Jerry’s to free itself from Unilever, and now Magnum.
Ben & Jerry's sued its original parent company, Unilever, in November over accusations that it silenced the ice cream maker's attempts to express support for a ceasefire in Gaza and support for Palestinian refugees.
Ben & Jerry's also said it was silenced four separate times when it tried calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, advocating for halting US military aid to Israel, supporting university students protesting against Israel's war on Gaza, and supporting the safe passage of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the UK.
In the lawsuit, Ben & Jerry's said Peter der Kulve, Unilever's head of ice cream at the time, said he was concerned that the company being vocal on the war on Gaza could lead to a "continued perception of anti-Semitism".
Cohen, 74, has been vocal about the war on Gaza and was arrested in May after he protested against the US giving military aid to Gaza at a Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill.
A 'painful' decision
Greenfield said that the decision to resign was one of the “hardest and most painful decisions” he had ever made.
Cohen and Greenfield founded the company in 1978 and sold it to Unilever in 2000. Earlier this month, Ben & Jerry’s officially became part of Magnum Ice Cream Company, as Unilever prepares to demerge from its ice cream brands in November.
The pair asked the Magnum board to sell the company to a group that supported Ben & Jerry’s values.
Magnum, like Unilever, said it refused to sell the iconic ice cream brand.
Consequently, Cohen, the only member of the pair active on social media, launched a public campaign last week, calling on Magnum and Unilever to allow the company to operate independently and freely discuss the war in Gaza, racial justice, and other issues.
Ben & Jerry’s did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
