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Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has walked away from the company after almost 50 years, saying its independence has been eroded under Unilever.
In a letter published by his fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said he could no longer “in good conscience” remain with a business that he argued had been “silenced” by its parent company.
“It is profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” Greenfield wrote. “If the company couldn’t stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all.”
Greenfield described the decision to leave as one of the “hardest and most painful” of his career. Although neither he nor Cohen has operational control, he had remained an employee to safeguard the brand’s founding social mission.
Disputes over mission and ownership
The departure follows years of conflict between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever. Tensions escalated after Unilever reversed an agreement allowing the ice-cream brand to avoid sales in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, a move that inevitably drew criticism in Israel.
Unilever later sold Ben & Jerry’s Israel business to a local operator, sparking a lawsuit before a settlement was reached in 2022. The following year, Ben & Jerry’s again took legal action, claiming Unilever threatened to dismantle its board and sue directors over public statements on Gaza.
Greenfield’s exit coincides with Unilever’s plan to spin off its ice-cream unit as Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), which also includes Wall’s. The new entity is expected to list primarily in Amsterdam, with secondary listings in London and New York.
Ahead of TMICC’s first capital markets day, Cohen and Greenfield issued an open letter urging directors and potential investors to “release” Ben & Jerry’s, arguing that dismantling its social mission had weakened the business.
Search for investors blocked
Cohen revealed that he and Greenfield had sought to repurchase the brand, putting forward investor-backed proposals valuing it between $1.5bn and $2.5bn. He claimed Unilever refused, preventing potential buyers from reviewing financials.
“The problem is that Unilever and Magnum don’t want to sell, so they are not allowing any of these potential investors see the financials,” Cohen said.
A TMICC spokesperson said the business was “forever grateful” to Greenfield for his role in creating Ben & Jerry’s but “disagreed with his perspective.” The company added it had attempted to engage both founders in “constructive conversation” about strengthening the brand.
