New York
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Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, are combating with the firm’s dad and mom about the independence of the model they created almost 50 years in the past.
The pair, which now not controls the firm they created, wrote an open letter Tuesday addressed to the Magnum Ice Cream Company board, which is being spun off from Unilever. The letter requested that Ben & Jerry’s itself be spun off to function independently, following a number of disputes over the years about its views on a number of points, together with criticism of President Donald Trump’s insurance policies and Israel’s struggle in Gaza.
Cohen and Greenfield wrote that after they offered the ice cream model to Unilever in 2000, Ben & Jerry’s was given the freedom to pursue its social mission, however Unilever has eroded that freedom over the previous two-and-a-half a long time.
“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,” the pair wrote. “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 final yr introduced the spinoff of Magnum, which would come with Ben & Jerry’s. The pair mentioned that since Magnum nonetheless will retain a relationship with Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s needs to be launched so it will probably function as a progressive-led firm.
“For these reasons, we urge the board to allow Ben & Jerry’s to operate once again as an independently owned company, supported by socially-aligned investors and free to honor its mission without compromise,” they mentioned.
The open letter was posted on an internet site with the URL, freebenandjerrys.com.
In response, Unilever mentioned that Ben & Jerry’s is a “proud part” of the Magnum Ice Cream Company and is not on the market.
“We remain committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission – product, economic and social – and look forward to building on its success as an iconic, much-loved business,” an Unilever spokesperson mentioned.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company can be the world’s largest ice cream conglomerate and expects to be publicly listed in mid-November, the firm announced Tuesday.
For a minimum of the previous 4 years, Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever have been embroiled in a collection of public disputes.
In March, Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of breaching its merger agreement by ousting the ice cream firm’s CEO for the model’s repeated public feedback on progressive points, eradicating its chief govt with out the board’s approval.
In an amended grievance, legal professionals for the ice cream model mentioned that its 2000 merger settlement “protects Ben & Jerry’s interests by precluding the unilateral removal of its CEO,” however Unilever did simply that — eradicating and changing CEO David Stever with out following correct protocols.
Unilever beforehand responded that it was in acted correctly and carried out a very good religion dialog with Ben & Jerry’s board about eradicating its CEO.
In January, the company alleged that Unilever prevented Ben & Jerry’s from posting references to abortion, local weather change and common healthcare, as a result of they talked about President Donald Trump.
In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s stopped selling ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories, saying it’s inconsistent with the values of the socially aware model. It later offered its Israeli business.