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Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield has give up the corporate, because the divide with father or mother Unilever grew over its stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
His companion, Ben Cohen, shared Greenfield’s open letter on X on Wednesday, saying it was a “difficult decision.” Greenfield had been with the corporate for 47 years.
“This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made,” Greenfield wrote within the letter. “This isn’t because I’ve lost my love for the people at Ben & Jerry’s. Quite the opposite.”
He went on to say that when Unilever purchased the corporate greater than 20 years in the past, it “guaranteed” Ben & Jerry’s had “the independence to pursue our values.”
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Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, palms out free ice cream at Franklin Sq. in Philadelphia throughout their Scoop The Vote tour to get-out-the-vote for Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats down the poll on September 16, 2024, ( Lisa Lake for MoveOn / Getty Photographs)
Greenfield stated he may not “in good conscience” proceed working for an organization that had been “silenced” by Unilever. He additionally referred to as out the present administration, saying it’s “attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community.”
Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have clashed since 2021, when the ice cream maker stated it could cease gross sales within the West Financial institution.
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An individual walks by a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream store on March 19, 2025, in San Francisco, California. ( Justin Sullivan / Getty Photographs)
The model has since sued its father or mother over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza battle as “genocide,” a uncommon stance for a significant U.S. firm.
A spokesperson for Magnum Ice Cream Firm, Unilever’s ice cream unit, instructed Reuters 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.”
Jerry Greenfield, left, and Ben Cohen, proper, co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s, appeared collectively handy out free ice cream at Franklin Sq. in Philadelphia throughout their Scoop The Vote tour on September 16, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ( Lisa Lake for MoveOn / Getty Photographs)
Magnum stated Greenfield stepped down as a model ambassador and that he’s not a celebration to the lawsuit.
Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s was based by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gasoline station in 1978, and saved its socially aware mission after Unilever purchased it in 2000.
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“It was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world,” Greenfield wrote.
FOX Enterprise reached out to Unilever for remark.
Reuters contributed to this report.
