The Ice Cream Giant's Co-founder Jerry Greenfield Resigns, Citing Unilever Silenced Social Mission
Ben & Jerry’s's co-creator Jerry Greenfield has stepped away from the iconic brand after almost five decades, as stated by a message from his fellow founder Ben Cohen.
The announcement shared what he called a message from Greenfield, in which the departing executive labeled it one of the “hardest and difficult decisions” of his life.
Greenfield stated that the company had been silenced by Unilever and that its independence to address social causes was now “lost.”
“Unless the business was willing to advocate for the things we believed in, then it no longer deserved to exist as a company at all,” he said.
This move came despite a acquisition deal meant to protect the brand’s ethical commitments, Greenfield noted.
“That independence was preserved in no small part because of the special merger agreement” which both founders had arranged with Unilever, Greenfield wrote.
Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news agency.
Recently, Cohen revealed that amid disagreements with the parent company, the firm had attempted to arrange a sale to buyers at a fair market value of $1.5bn–$2.5bn, but the proposal was turned down.
The multinational and Ben & Jerry’s have been in conflict since at least recent years, when the company said it would stop selling in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The brand has also sued its owner over alleged attempts to restrain it and has referred to the situation in Gaza “genocide.”
