© Getty Images for MoveOnJerry Greenfield has quit the popular ice cream company he founded nearly 50 years ago, his partner Ben Cohen said on Wednesday.
In an open letter addressing the Ben & Jerry community that was shared by Cohen, on social media platform X, Greenfield said that the Vermont-based company has lost its independence since UK parent Unilever curtailed its social activism.
Unilever and Ben & Jerry's have clashed since 2021, when the Chubby Hubby maker said it would stop sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The brand has since sued its parent over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza conflict as "genocide," a rare stance for a major US company.
Greenfield said he could no longer "in good conscience" continue working for a company that had been "silenced" by Unilever, despite a merger agreement meant to safeguard the brand's social mission.
"That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever," he wrote in the letter.
A Magnum Ice Cream company spokesperson said that it disagrees with Greenfield's perspective and has sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's powerful values-based position in the world.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Last week, Ben Cohen said the brand had attempted to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion amid tensions with Unilever but the proposal was rejected.
You made us dream when we heard of your decision, at the time
What you do today is what I call a strong commitment to Truth
Your ice-cream tasted freedom - absolute freedom - Canadian trucker ice cream!
Thank you for that!