Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, announced he is leaving the company after 47 years, citing what he called the loss of independence under parent company Unilever. His resignation follows years of mounting tensions between the ice cream maker’s activist stance and Unilever’s corporate oversight, much of it centered on Israel.
In a letter shared by co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said he could “no longer, in good conscience” remain with the brand he and Cohen launched in Vermont in 1978. He lamented that the unique merger agreement with Unilever, intended to preserve Ben & Jerry’s social mission, had been undermined. “It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” he wrote.
Greenfield stressed that the company had once been able to address “real events happening in our world,” but had now been “silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.”
Ben & Jerry’s activism has repeatedly clashed with Unilever, particularly over Israel. In 2021, the company declared it would no longer sell its products in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, as well as parts of Jerusalem, sparking international backlash. Several US states divested from Unilever, and Australia’s top kosher authority dropped Ben & Jerry’s from its listings. Unilever responded by selling its Israeli franchise rights to local licensee Avi Zinger, ensuring Ben & Jerry’s continued sales across Israel under its Hebrew and Arabic names. Ben & Jerry’s board sued to block that move but later settled.
The rift resurfaced during the Gaza war, when the board issued statements accusing Israel of “genocide” and suing Unilever for allegedly censoring its political commentary. The conflict highlighted how Ben & Jerry’s independent board increasingly diverged from Unilever’s more cautious corporate line.
Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, has said it values the brand’s “powerful values-based position” but disputes Greenfield’s account. The company plans to spin off its entire ice cream division, including Ben & Jerry’s, by the end of 2025.
Greenfield concluded his statement by pledging to continue advocating for “love, equity, and justice” outside the company. “From the very beginning, Ben and I believed that our values and the pursuit of justice were more important than the company itself,” he wrote. “If the company couldn’t stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all."
Since 2022, Ben & Jerry’s Israel has been fully independent. The company acquired the rights to the brand and has been operating since then with no legal or commercial connection to Unilever or Ben & Jerry’s Global.
The local operation is run by "American Quality Products Ltd.," owned by Avi Zinger, with a manufacturing plant in Be’er Tuvia employing over 200 workers, most of whom are residents of Israel’s south. The Israeli company operates with full autonomy throughout the country, upholding the local and community values that have guided it for more than 35 years