"Ben & Jerry’s co-founder quits, accusing Unilever of silencing social mission", 17 Sep 2025

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has stepped away from the... brand after nearly 50 years, claiming it has lost its independence and accusing its parent company, Unilever, of having “silenced” its social mission... “It is profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he said. “If the company couldn’t stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all.”... Greenfield’s resignation is the latest development in a bitter dispute since Unilever backtracked on an agreement allowing Ben & Jerry’s to not sell ice-cream in occupied Palestinian territories, which had been heavily criticised in Israel. Unilever subsequently sold Ben & Jerry’s Israel division to a local operator, prompting the ice-cream maker to sue its parent company before reaching a settlement in 2022. Last year, Ben & Jerry’s launched a legal action against Unilever, accusing it of threatening to dismantle the board and sue directors over their public statements in support of Palestinians in Gaza... The letter comes as Unilever prepares to spin out its ice-cream division, Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC)... Before the new business’s first capital markets day last week, Cohen and Greenfield published an open letter to the board and potential investors, calling for the brand to be “released”... A spokesperson for TMICC said it would be “forever grateful” to Greenfield for his role co-founding the company, but that the business “disagreed with his perspective” and had sought to engage both co-founders in a “constructive conversation” on how to strengthen the brand... In May, Cohen was charged with “crowding and obstructing” others after he was arrested while protesting against the Gaza blockade during a US Senate hearing... In 2000, Unilever struck a $326m deal to buy the business... with stipulations including the creation of the brand’s own independent board to allow it to continue to take progressive stances on social and political issues and uphold its core values. “However much a [formerly] independent company will try to retain its identity and ethos, the corporate [buyer] will invariably call the shots in the long run,” said Nick Stockley, a partner and dispute resolution specialist...