Ben & Jerry's co-founder quits over social activism row

Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield has left the ice cream maker after almost half a century at the firm, deepening a dispute with parent company Unilever.

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 put a halt to its social activism.

His exit marks the latest episode in a row that started in 2021 when Ben & Jerry's said it would stop selling its ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is being spun off from Unilever, said it was grateful to Mr Greenfield but disagreed with his stance.

Ben & Jerry's has long been known for taking a public stance on social issues since it was founded in 1978, often backing campaigns on issues like LGBTQ+ rights and climate change.

In his letter, Mr Greenfield said leaving the firm was "one of the hardest and most painful decisions" he had ever made but he could no longer "in good conscience" work for a business that had been "silenced" by Unilever.

This was despite an agreement that protected the brand's social mission when it merged with the consumer goods giant 25 years ago, he said.

Speaking to Radio 4, Ben Cohen said that "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 told the PM programme.

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 said the firm had been in dialogue with the two founders before Mr Greenfield's decision to leave.

"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," they said.

Commenting on Mr Greenfield's announcement, Anna Macdonald, investment partner at Aubrey Investments, said Ben and Jerry's had "built a brand all about irreverence and activism and advocacy" and that Unilever had agreed to "continue these missions" when it bought the business in 2000.

But in recent years, she said, Unilever may have attempted to rein in the company's activism, particularly with regard to Israel and Gaza.

Earlier this year, the company accused Unilever of demanding that it stops publicly criticising US President Donald Trump.

Ms Macdonald said Mr Greenfield "has moved on because he doesn't want to be associated with what's happening now".

In March this year, Ben & Jerry's said its chief executive, David Stever, was being removed by Unilever.

The allegation was part of a legal case filed in a US court by Ben & Jerry's that said Unilever violated a merger agreement by trying to silence its "social mission".

A Unilever spokesperson said it was "disappointed that the confidentiality of an employee career conversation has been made public".

In May, Mr Cohen was arrested during a protest in the US Senate over military aid to Israel and humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Protesters disrupted the hearing while Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was testifying.

Mr Cohen was charged with a misdemeanour offence, while another six demonstrators were also arrested and face a number of more serious charges, US Capitol Police told BBC News.