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Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry, has left the company, as the partition with Parent Unilever increased on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
His partner, Ben Cohen, shared Greenfield’s open letter on X on Wednesday, saying it was a “tough decision”. Greenfield was with the company for 47 years.
Greenfield wrote in the letter, “This is one of the most difficult and most painful decisions made by me.” “This is not because I have lost my love for Ben and Jerry’s people. It’s quite opposite.”
He said that when Unilever bought the company more than 20 years ago, it had “freedom to pursue our values” of the “Ben and Jerry guarantee”.
CEO fire for political activism as the original company of Ben & Jerry.
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry, is to take out the free ice cream at Franklin Square at Philadelphia during his scoop the vote tour, for Vice President Kamla Harris and Democrats to take out for voting on September 16, 2024. (Lisa Lake for Leson / Getty Image)
Greenfield said that he could no longer “in good conscience”, which was “silent” by Unilever. They also called out Current administration, Saying that it is “to attack civil rights, rights, immigrants’ rights, women and LGBTQ community.”
Unilever and Ben & Jerry collided since 2021, when the ice cream manufacturer said it will stop the sale West coast.
A person runs from a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop on 19 March 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
The Vermont-based Ben and Jerry was founded by Cohen and Greenfield in a renovated gas station in 1978, and in 2000 Unilever put on its socially aware mission after purchasing it.
Jerry Greenfield, Left, and co-founder of Ben Cohen, Right, Ben and Jerry, Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania on 16 September, 2024 to hand over free ice cream at Franklin Square in Franklin Square in Phiranklin Square, Pennsylvania. (Lisa Lake for Leson / Getty Image)
“It was always more about ice cream; Greenfield wrote that it was a way to spread love and invite others into equity, justice and a better world fight.
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A spokesman of the Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever’s ice cream unit thanked Greenfield for his co-founding role in a Fox Business statement, but said, “We disagree with his perspective and demanded how to engage both co-founders in a creative conversation to how to strengthen the powerful values of Ben and Jerry.”
“We are committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission-products, economic and social-and focus on advancing the legacy of peace, love and ice cream of this iconic, very preferred brand. Ben and Jerry Magnum is a proud and rich part of the ice cream company and we are said to be ready to create ahead of its success.
Reuters contributed to this report.
