By Editor,Jane Denton,Taryn Pedler

Copyright dailymail

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has resigned from the iconic ice cream brand he launched nearly half a century ago. Greenfield claimed Ben & Jerry’s had lost its independence since parent business Unilever halted its social activism. Greenfield’s resignation marks the latest chapter in a long-running dispute that kicked off in 2021 when Unilever backtracked on an agreement enabling Ben & Jerry’s to stop selling its ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories.

The Vermont-based brand has since sued its parent company over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza conflict as ‘genocide’. In a open letter shared by co-founder Ben Cohen on X, Greenfield said he could no longer ‘in good conscience’ remain an employee of a firm that had been ‘silenced’ by Unilever. It comes despite a merger agreement aimed at protecting the ice cream brand’s social mission.

‘It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone’, Greenfield said in the letter. A spokesperson for Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever’s ice cream arm, said: ‘We will be forever grateful to Jerry for his role in co-founding such an amazing ice cream company, turning his passion for delicious ice cream and addressing social causes into a remarkable success story. We thank him for his service and support over many decades and wish him well in his next chapter.

‘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. ‘We remain committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission – product, economic and social – and remain focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand. ‘Ben & Jerry’s is a proud and thriving part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and we look forward to further building on its success.’

Magnum said Greenfield stepped down as a brand ambassador and that he is not a party to the lawsuit. Greenfield’s resignation comes as Ben & Jerry’s calls for its own spin-off ahead of a planned listing of Magnum Ice Cream in November after years of clashing over the US brand’s vocal position on Gaza. London-listed Unilever, which also owns Marmite and Dove, will retain a 20 per cent stake, but expects to reduce this over time.

Ben & Jerry’s also claimed last year that Unilever had urged the brand to stop public criticism of Donald Trump. The company gained a reputation for activism, partnering with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe and ‘Squad’ Congresswoman Cori Bush. In September of 2021, they debuted a flavor in support of a $10 billion bill by Rep. Bush that would replace police officers with social workers and other first responders in incidents of mental health and substance abuse.

The cold brew-flavored ice cream, complete with marshmallow swirls and fudge brownies, was developed in partnership with black-owned coffee and tea company Blk & Bold and New York’s Greyston Bakery, known for its brownies. ‘The flavor supports the vision of the world in which every community is safe and everyone including black and brown people can thrive,’ said the company’s ‘head of activism’ Jabari Pall. Ben & Jerry’s also partnered with the Movement for Black Lives for the new flavor.

In 2020, the company teamed up with former NFL star Colin Kaepernick for a nonfat frozen yogurt called Change the Whirled. Proceeds went to his social justice organization Know Your Rights Camp. Its popular Chubby Hubby flavor was renamed ‘Hubby Hubby’ in 2009 in support of Vermont legalising gay marriage. Last week Cohen demanded to ‘free Ben & Jerry’s’ to protect its social values , which was rebuffed by new Magnum chief executive Peter ter Kulve.

Cohen said the brand had attempted to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between $1.5billion and $2.5billion, but the proposal was rejected. In May this year, Cohen was forcibly removed from a Senate hearing for disrupting Robert F. Kennedy Jr ‘s testimony while protesting the US’s support for Israel . As the Health and Human Services Secretary began to answer a question, the Senate floor erupted in chaos, and Cohen could be heard screaming. ‘Congress sent the bombs that kill children in Gaza and pays it with cuts to Medicaid,’ he shouted.

During the commotion, Senator Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, paused the hearing and continued to encourage police to remove the protestors. ‘Hands off Medicaid! Congress kills,’ Cohen said as he was escorted out of the room. It comes after July 4, 2023, when Ben & Jerry’s celebrated American Independence Day by declaring the country should ‘return’ its land to the native tribes from whom it was originally stolen.

‘This 4th of July, it’s high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it,’ the company’s official account wrote before suggesting Mount Rushmore should be handed back to its original owners. The post sparked immediate outrage on social media, with many disgusted customers using the #boycottbenandjerrys hashtag to slam the message as anti-American sentiment on a day meant to celebrate the United States. The tweet then linked to a post on the company’s website explaining why America should ‘start with Mount Rushmore’ and how they hope to support a movement that would dismantle ‘white supremacy and systems of oppression.’

‘Ah, the Fourth of July. Who doesn’t love a good parade, some tasty barbecue, and a stirring fireworks display? The only problem with all that, though, is that it can distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth: The US was founded on stolen Indigenous land,’ they wrote. The ice cream giant then announced its support for the Land Back Movement, which it says is ‘about restoring the rights and freedoms of Indigenous people.’ Ben & Jerry’s was founded by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978, and kept its socially conscious mission after Unilever bought it in 2000.