Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Quits And Claims Parent Company Has Silenced Social Activism

Jerry Greenfield, the co-founder of ice-cream company Ben & Jerry’s, has announced he is leaving the company after 47 years.

In a statement shared online by his co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said he could no longer in good conscience work with parent company Unilever.

Greenfield said Unilever, which acquired Ben & Jerry’s for $326 million in 2000, had guaranteed the company would have independence to pursue its values.

The independence to speak out on social issues and human rights is gone and the company has been silenced, Greenfield said.

“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 said in a statement.

“That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity. It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”

Greenfield said Ben & Jerry’s had been silenced and sidelined out of fear of upsetting those in power, and it comes as the Trump administration is “attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community.”

Ben & Jerry’s has been a notably progressive company since it was founded in 1978, with Greenfield and Cohen continually using their platform to push for social change.

The co-founders have advocated for many issues, including abortion rights, racial justice, voter turnout, LGBTQIA+ rights and climate change, but have been at odds with Unilever in recent years.

Greenfield and Cohen have also alleged they were silenced on speaking out in support of Gaza on multiple occasions amid Israel’s war in the besieged enclave.

In March, they accused Unilever of firing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever in retaliation for the company’s political activism.

In a federal court filing reported by AP, the ice-cream company accused Unilever of violating its merger agreement by sacking Stever without a consultation with the board's advisory panel.

Last year, Greenfield and Cohen filed a lawsuit against Unilever, saying it had breached the terms of a 2022 settlement related to a separate lawsuit.

The 2022 settlement has remained confidential but related to Unilever selling Ben & Jerry’s to a licensee in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after Ben & Jerry’s said it would stop selling products there.

In 2024, Greenfield and Cohen alleged Unilever had silenced several statements in support of Palestinian refugees.

The lawsuit alleged statements calling for a ceasefire and in support of safe passage for Palestinian refugees to Britain were blocked, as well as statements backing protesting U.S. students and advocating for a halt in U.S. military aid to Israel.

"Ben & Jerry's has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights," the lawsuit said. "Unilever has silenced each of these efforts."

Greenfield’s resignation comes as Unilever is splitting off its ice cream brands into a new independent business, The Magnum Ice Cream Company, so it can grow on its own.

“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,” a spokesperson for Magnum said.

“We remain committed to Ben & Jerry's unique three-part mission – product, economic and social – and remain focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand. Ben & Jerry's is a proud and thriving part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and we look forward to further building on its success.”

Ben & Jerry’s has been campaigning to return to an independently owned company, free from Magnum and Unilever.

“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 concluded his statement.

“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.”