In 2000, Ben & Jerry’s made headlines following a bombshell acquisition by Unilever, the multinational global consumer goods company headquartered in London, England. The partnership came with big hopes and promises. Together with Unilever, the Vermont-based brand would fortify its dynamic business under an independent Board of Directors (“We call them the B.O.D., which means we really like them,” Ben & Jerry’s said at the time), all while staying true to its progressive social activism. But now, more than 25 years later, that partnership has crumbled, leaving an ice cream brand that refuses to forgo its values — and be silenced.
Since its inception in 1978, Ben & Jerry’s has made a name for itself as more than just an ice cream brand. Social justice has long been at the forefront of the brand’s foundation, beginning in the late 1980s with the creation of its Peace Pop and the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation. Under the agreement with Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s would operate as an independent subsidiary, meaning the brand’s employees would be protected and its commitment to social justice would persevere. “Shareholders will be rewarded,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement to The New York Times. “Ben & Jerry’s employees will be protected; the current social mission of Ben & Jerry’s will be encouraged and well-funded, which will lead to improved performance in this area, and an opportunity has been offered for Ben & Jerry’s to contribute to Unilever’s social practices worldwide.”
Unilever also agreed to commit 7.5% of Ben & Jerry’s profits to a foundation and not to reduce jobs or change how the ice cream is made. Furthermore, the company agreed to annually contribute $5 million to the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, create a $5 million fund to help minority-owned businesses and others in poor neighborhoods and distribute $5 million to employees in six months, Perry D. Odak, former chief executive of Ben & Jerry’s, told the Times.
A few months after the merger was finalized, Ben Cohen, co-founder of the brand, expressed concern over the brand’s potential loss of its mission at the hands of Unilever. “Ben & Jerry’s will become just another brand like any other soulless, heartless, spiritless brand out there — that’s my concern,” Cohen told the Associated Press.
“The only way the social mission of Ben & Jerry’s and the heart and soul of the company will be maintained is to have a CEO running the company who has a deep understanding of our values-led social business philosophy, who [has] experience with the company and with how that worked in practice,” Cohen said.
Promises originally made by Unilever were also, seemingly, being broken. Unilever had backed out of creating the $5 million fund, a decision that upset Cohen. And agreements for Unilever to continue encouraging Ben & Jerry’s social agenda weren’t actually legally binding — a shocking revelation that Cohen said he had only learned after the sale.
Tensions between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever reportedly peaked in 2021, when the former announced that it would no longer sell its ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), which included the West Bank and East Jerusalem, because “it is inconsistent with our values.” The following year, Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever for breaching its 2000 merger agreement and allowing for the marketing and sales of the brand’s ice cream in Israel. In 2024, Ben & Jerry’s filed yet another suit, claiming that Unilever “threatened to dismantle its board and sue its members” if the brand spoke out in support of Palestine, CNN reported.
“Ben & Jerry’s has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights,” according to the lawsuit. “Unilever has silenced each of these efforts.” In an email statement sent to CNN, Unilever rejected “the claims made by B&J’s social mission board” and vowed to “defend our case very strongly.”
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Ben & Jerry’s rift with its parent company persisted in 2025. In January, the brand amended its 2024 lawsuit against Unilever, alleging that Peter ter Kulve, president of Unilever’s ice cream division, “unilaterally barred Ben & Jerry’s” from posting a statement on abortion, climate change, minimum wages and universal healthcare because it mentioned Donald Trump.
“According to Mr. ter Kelve, despite four decades of progressive social activism — and years of challenging the Trump administration’s policies specifically — criticizing Trump was now too taboo for the brand synonymous with ‘Peace, Love, and Ice Cream,’” the lawsuit read, per CNN.
Two months later, Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of unlawfully ousting its CEO David Stever over his support of the brand’s political activism. The proposed amended complaint specified that “Unilever’s motive for removing Mr. Stever is his commitment to Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission and Essential Brand Integrity…rather than any genuine concerns regarding his performance history,” according to Eater.
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In an open letter addressed to the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is being spun off from Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s urged the board to allow its brand to once again operate as an independently owned company.
“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 Ben & Jerry’s employees,” the brand wrote. “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 that we founded, or the one that we envisioned when we agreed to join Unilever 25 years ago.”
Unilever, in response, said Ben & Jerry’s is a “proud part” of the Magnum Ice Cream Company — and not for sale.
Years of public disputes between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever ultimately led to Jerry Greenfield’s resignation. “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,” Greenfield wrote in an open letter posted Tuesday night by Cohen. “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.”
“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.”
Despite Greenfield’s departure, Ben & Jerry’s spirit remains unbroken. Their latest mission? To free Ben & Jerry’s from Magnum with help from its loyal ice cream lovers.
“Ben & Jerry’s cannot thrive under an organization that stifles its values and that buckles under political pressure,” the brand wrote in a statement on its website. “An independent Ben & Jerry’s will allow it to go back to its roots as a company driven by values, authenticity, and a belief that business has to be about more than just profitability.”
