Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Jerry Greenfield Resigns After Nearly 50 Years Amid Unilever Dispute
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, has stepped down from the ice cream company after nearly half a century, deepening tensions with parent company Unilever over the brand’s social activism.
Dispute Over Brand Independence
In a letter shared online by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said he could no longer “in good conscience” remain with the company. He argued that Ben & Jerry’s had lost its independence after Unilever curtailed its activism, a core part of the brand’s identity since it was founded in 1978.
“This was one of the hardest and most painful decisions of my life,” Greenfield wrote, accusing Unilever of silencing the brand despite a merger agreement 25 years ago that was meant to protect its social mission.
Longstanding Conflict With Unilever
The dispute traces back to 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The move sparked backlash and marked the start of a wider clash with Unilever.
Earlier this year, Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of pressuring the company to stop criticizing former US President Donald Trump. The company also filed a legal case alleging Unilever violated the original merger deal by interfering with its activism.
Unilever has rejected those claims. A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company, soon to be spun off from Unilever, thanked Greenfield for his contributions but disagreed with his position. “We have engaged both founders in constructive dialogue on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s values-based role in the world,” the spokesperson said.
Legacy of Activism
Ben & Jerry’s has long been outspoken on issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, and racial justice. Cohen and Greenfield built the brand around activism as much as ice cream — a stance Unilever had agreed to honor when it acquired the company in 2000.
Anna Macdonald, an investment partner at Aubrey Investments, said Greenfield’s resignation reflects growing friction over Israel and Gaza. “Ben & Jerry’s was built on irreverence, activism, and advocacy. Unilever agreed to uphold those missions, but in recent years it has tried to rein them in,” she explained.
Turbulent Year for the Brand
The rift deepened in March when Unilever removed Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever. In May, Cohen himself was arrested during a protest in the US Senate over American military aid to Israel and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Unilever said it was “disappointed” that details of private career conversations had been made public. The conflict underscores the continuing struggle between Ben & Jerry’s activist roots and its corporate parent’s efforts to limit political controversy.