What happened between Jerry Greenfield and Unilever? Ben & Jerry co-founder resigns after 47 years over dispute with parent company

Ben & Jerry's Jerry Greenfield has reportedly parted ways with the iconic ice cream maker following a reported dispute with Unilever.

Following 47 years with the company, Greenfield issued a statement on social media, shared by co-founder Ben Cohen, noting that the brand lost its independence after its parent company tried to stifle its social activism.

Per BBC, Jerry Greenfield's exit comes on the heels of a dispute stemming from 2021, when the company announced it would halt its ice creams being sold in Israeli outlets located in the Palestinian territories, i.e., the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Everything we know about the rift between Jerry Greenfield and Unilever:

In the statement shared by Cohen, Jerry Greenfield divulged that quitting was “one of the hardest and most painful decisions” he’d ever made.

“Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power,” Greenfield said in the statement. “And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community.”

He continued,

“It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s."

Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen reportedly sold their brand to Unilever in 2000. At the time, the former said they were promised the “independence to pursue (their) values.”

“For more than twenty years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice, and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world,” Greenfield wrote. “It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he added.

The Guardian has reported that neither of the co-founders of the Vermont-based company had any control over operations, and were simply staying with the company in a bid to maintain its goals of social activism.

CNN has reported that a spokesperson for Magnum, another ice cream company, said that its executives 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.” “We will be forever grateful to Jerry for his role in co-founding such an amazing ice cream company, turning his passion for delicious ice cream and addressing social causes into a remarkable success story,” the spokesperson told CNN. “We thank him for his service and support over many decades and wish him well in his next chapter.”

The Guardian has also reported that just last year, Ben & Jerry’s launched a lawsuit against its parent company, accusing it of threatening to stifle its board of directors over their vocal support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

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