Jerry quits Ben & Jerry's [View all]

Source: CNN Business

Updated Sep 17, 2025, 7:36 AM ET
PUBLISHED Sep 17, 2025, 3:17 AM ET


Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has quit the ice cream brand he started in 1978 amid a dispute with its British owner Unilever, according a post by the company’s other co-founder, Ben Cohen.

Cohen shared a statement from Greenfield that said quitting was “one of the hardest and most painful decisions” he has made. He accused Unilever of curtailing Ben & Jerry’s ability to speak out on social and political causes – which became synonymous with the brand’s identity. “It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s,” he added.

Greenfield and Cohen sold their Vermont-based ice cream company to Unilever in 2000 and, according to Greenfield, were guaranteed the “independence to pursue (their) values.” But the brand’s relationship with Unilever eroded over the years. The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is being spun off from Unilever, said the company has tried to work with the brand’s co-founders.

“We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” a Magnum spokesperson said in a statement. Tensions between Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company boiled over in 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s ended its sales in occupied Palestinian territories, saying it’s inconsistent with the values of the socially conscious brand. That triggered backlash from Israel and kicked off a battle with Unilever over the brand’s independence.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/17/business/jerry-greenfield-quits-ice-cream-brand-intl-hnk