Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s wants to return to being an independent business, as it seeks to promote its original “authenticity” and focus on its “social justice mission”.
Since 2000, the brand has been owned by Unilever, the £115bn industry giant which is also the parent of the likes of Dove soaps, Marmite, Domestos cleaning products and more.
However, Unilever is spinning off its ice cream division which will list as a separate entity as the Magnum Ice Cream Company (MICC), which Ben & Jerry’s is set to be a part of.
In an open letter to MICC board members and prospective investors in the new company, which will be listed on the Amsterdam stock market rather than London like Unilever, co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have pleaded to be allowed to separate themselves once more and return to their roots.
Historically, Ben & Jerry’s has positioned itself as standing for humanitarian and social values, speaking out on matters including LGBTQ+ rights, the climate crisis and war.
That has not always been in sync with its owner’s views or approach to voicing them, with Ben & Jerry’s attempting to sue Unilever last year for what it said was being silencing over attempts to speak out in support of Palestinians, while also accusing its parent company of forcibly removing its CEO in March.
“Ben & Jerry’s was founded on a simple but radical premise: that our business could thrive and make outstanding products whilst standing up for progressive values,” said Mr Cohen in a separate statement.
“We fought to ensure our social justice mission was protected by Unilever when the company was acquired, but over the past several years, this has been eroded, and the company’s voice has been muted. We won’t be silent anymore. Authenticity has always been at the very heart of what we do, and stripping this away risks destroying the very value of Ben & Jerry’s.
“We urge the board and potential investors to rethink the inclusion of Ben & Jerry’s in Magnum’s future make-up and establish a Free Ben & Jerry’s.”
Within the open letter itself, Cohen and Greenfield say MICC “retains the legacy, leadership and investment of Unilever’s ice cream business” and highlights the discrepancies between themselves and the executive leadership’s approach to speaking out “on issues such as Gaza, indigenous rights, the Trump administration, and DEI”.
“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,” it continues.
“We no longer believe that Ben & Jerry’s belongs under the umbrella of a corporate entity that fails to support its founding mission, and which is reducing the company’s value by undercutting one of the critical reasons why customers love and support the brand.”
