September 17, 2025 | 07:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jerry Greenfield, one of the co-founders of the iconic ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, has announced his departure from the company, citing objections to its parent company Unilever’s handling of the Gaza conflict.
Greenfield, who has spent nearly 50 years with the brand, accused Unilever of undermining Ben & Jerry’s social mission, particularly its position on what he and his partner, Ben Cohen, describe as Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
The announcement was made in an open letter shared by Cohen on the social media platform X on Wednesday, September 17, 2025. Greenfield called the decision “one of the hardest and most painful” of his life.
The tension between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever began in 2021 when the Vermont-based company announced it would halt sales in the West Bank, claiming the action aligned with its values.
Since then, Ben & Jerry’s has filed a lawsuit against Unilever, alleging that the parent company tried to silence the brand’s statements regarding the Gaza war, a rare stance for major U.S. corporations.
A Unilever spokesperson previously stated, “Our heart goes out to all victims of the tragic events in the Middle East. We reject the claims made by B&J’s social mission board, and we will defend our case very strongly. We would not comment further on this legal matter.”
In his letter, Greenfield said he could no longer work for a company whose social mission had been “silenced” despite a merger agreement designed to protect the brand’s independence.
“That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever,” he wrote.
Both founders are known for their progressive activism. Cohen was arrested in May for disrupting a U.S. Senate hearing to protest Washington’s support of Israel’s Gaza attacks, which have killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 2023.
A spokesperson for Magnum Ice Cream Company stated that while they do not share Greenfield’s perspective, they have sought constructive conversations with the founders to uphold Ben & Jerry’s values globally. The spokesperson also thanked Greenfield for his role in founding the brand.
Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever have not immediately responded to requests for comment.
Last week, Cohen called for “freeing Ben & Jerry’s” to safeguard its social mission, a proposal rejected by Magnum’s new CEO, Peter ter Kulve. Cohen also revealed that the brand had attempted a sale to investors valued between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion, but the offer was turned down.
Ben & Jerry’s, founded by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978, has maintained its socially conscious mission even after being acquired by Unilever in 2000.
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