By Tiffany Williams –
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, has walked away from the ice cream empire he helped build nearly half a century ago, blasting parent company Unilever for muzzling the brand’s voice on global issues.
In an open letter posted Wednesday by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield called the move “painful” but said his conscience left him no choice.
“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,” he wrote on X, accusing Unilever of stripping away the independence promised when the British conglomerate bought the Vermont-based company for $326 million in 2000.
The rift stems from years of clashes over the brand’s activism, most notably in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop selling ice cream in Israeli-occupied West Bank territories over the Gaza conflict. That decision sparked legal fights and backlash, but Greenfield stood firm.
“It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he said.
Unilever, which is spinning off its ice cream portfolio into the soon-to-be-public Magnum Ice Cream Company this fall, pushed back on Greenfield’s claims. A spokesperson insisted the company had tried to keep the founders engaged and that it remained committed to the brand’s three-part mission of “product, economic and social” values.
“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,” the statement said.
Greenfield’s exit leaves Cohen as the lone founder still tied to the socially charged scoop shop that started in a renovated Vermont gas station in 1978 — a breakup that could reshape the future of one of America’s most outspoken brands.