Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has left the ice cream company after nearly 50 years at the global brand, citing a dispute with its parent company, Unilever.
In a resignation letter posted on Instagram by Ben Cohen on behalf of his co-founder, Greenfield said he can no longer “in good conscience” be employed by Ben & Jerry’s, and that the decision to resign was “one of the hardest and most painful” he has ever made.
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Unilever purchased Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 on the condition that it would safeguard the ice cream brand’s independence.
Since its founding in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s has positioned itself as a company at the forefront of social justice; however, in his statement, Greenfield says the basis of the agreement he and Cohen negotiated with Unilever — which allowed them to continue to speak out in support of LGBTQ2 rights and many other causes entrenched in its social mission — is “gone.”
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“It was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world,” Greenfield wrote.
“Coming to the conclusion that this is no longer possible at Ben & Jerry’s means I can no longer remain part of Ben & Jerry’s. If I can’t carry those values forward inside the company today, then I will carry them forward outside, with all the love and conviction I can.”
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Unilever is spinning off the entirety of its ice cream business into the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which, by the end of Q4 2025, is expected to be wholly separated from its parent company and independently operational.
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A spokesperson for the Magnum Ice Cream Company told the BBC that the firm had been in discussions with the two founders before Greenfield chose to leave.
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“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.
Greenfield’s exit bookends a years-long dispute between the ice cream brand and Unilever, which began in 2021 when both he and Cohen halted the sales of their products in Israeli-occupied settlements in the West Bank, stating that the company would not renew its licence with its Israeli distributor, American Quality Products (AQP).
Unilever followed with an announcement that it had sold off the Israeli arm of the ice cream business to Avi Zinger, the owner of AQP.
“While our parent company has taken this decision, we do not agree with it. We continue to believe it is inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values for our ice-cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Ben & Jerry’s said in 2022, according to the Guardian, adding that their company would not profit from sales in Israel.
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In August of the same year, after Zinger purchased the Israeli arm of the company, Ben & Jerry’s lost a legal bid to block Unilever from selling its ice cream in the West Bank.
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal under international law.
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