Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of the Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream brand, today announced that he would be stepping down from his leadership of the company. His long-time business partner Ben Cohen posted Jerry’s statement on social media:
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. I am resigning from the company Ben and I started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made.
Cohen and Greenfield have been outspoken supporters of social justice – back in May 2025, Cohen was arrested for protesting Israel’s war in Gaza at a US Senate hearing. Greenfield stated that he made the decision because of parent company Unilever stifling his company’s social activism and independence.
Ben & Jerry’s: ‘profoundly disappointing’
Unilever bought Ben & Jerry’s 25 years ago. At the time, they made an agreement guaranteeing that the smaller company could continue to pursue its ethical causes. However, Greenfield stated that:
For more than twenty years under their [Unilever’s] 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. 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.
And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community. 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. It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.
Ben & Jerry’s launched legal action against Unilever back in November 2024. As the Guardian reported, the lawsuit involved a claim that Unilever has not respected the company’s social mission:
Ben & Jerry’s said in the lawsuit that it has tried to call for a ceasefire, support the safe passage of Palestinian refugees to Britain, back students protesting at US colleges against civilian deaths in Gaza and advocate a halt to US military aid to Israel.
The ice-cream makers put it simply:
Ben & Jerry’s has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights….
Unilever has silenced each of these efforts.
Magnum de-merger
Greenfield’s decision was prompted by the Magnum Ice Cream Company’s current de-merger from Unilever, taking Ben & Jerry’s with it. For the company, this was an exacerbation of the existing threats to their company’s independence. Back on 9 September, Cohen posted an open letter to social media:
Today, as we watch Ben & Jerry’s formally become part of The Magnum Ice-Cream Company as part of the Unilever de-merger, we feel compelled to speak out – as concerned individuals, rather than as Ben & Jerry’s employees. We are deeply concerned that the commitments made to us, our employees, and our customers are being eroded. For several years now, the voice of Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced by Unilever, particularly when the brand has tried to speak out about social justice and unjust wars. That is not the Ben & Jerry’s we founded, or the one that we envisioned when we agreed to join Unilever 25 years ago.
However, a Magnum Ice Cream Company spokesperson stated that:
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.
Ben & Jerry’s was a rare example of a major company that put its money where its mouth is with regard to social issues and ethical commitments. Greenfield’s resignation is a further extension of that commitment, and a demonstration of the fact that the interests of capital will always stand in opposition to social justice.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.