Latest news with #Ben&Jerry'sFoundation
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Super-woke Ben & Jerry's gets a nasty threat that will end its left-wing activism
The bitter feud between Ben & Jerry's and parent company Unilever has escalated. They have been locked in a battle over the ice cream maker's 'woke' causes, which Unilever is trying to reign in. At the same time, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream have asked Unilever to sell the brand back to them. So far, Unilever has said no. And now the parent company is threatening to pull funding for the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, which donates to charities and social justice organizations. Unilever has demanded an immediate audit of the foundation's donations or it will pull its roughly $5 million contribution, Reuters reported. The foundation has previously supported the Human Rights Coalition, Homes for All St Louis and Black Workers Matter. Ben Cohen, who started the much-loved brand with Jerry Greenfield, has been rallying like-minded investors to join him in buying back the company, which has been known for its activism since its founding in Vermont in 1978. It comes weeks after CEO David Stever was fired by Unilever sparking a lawsuit. When Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry's for $326 million in 2000, it agreed to let an independent board oversee the brand's social justice mission. However, that mission has repeatedly clashed with Unilever's corporate priorities. Tensions escalated in 2021 when Ben & Jerry's halted sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, sparking a public battle between the brand and its parent company. Now, as Unilever considers spinning off its ice cream division — which includes brands like Magnum — Cohen wants Ben & Jerry's to go its own way. 'In the year 2000, Unilever loved us for who we were,' Cohen previously told the Wall Street Journal. 'Now we've gone separate ways in our relationship. We just need them to set us free.' Unilever has held firm that Ben & Jerry's is an important part of its ice-cream business and is not for sale. Although Cohen and Greenfield are no longer on the company's board they wrote a letter in support of Stever. Ben & Jerry's claims its CEO was fired by its parent company because of his political activism Ben & Jerry's remaining bosses also filed a lawsuit in response accusing the parent company of firing Stever for his political activism. They also say Unilever violated an agreement struck when the conglomerate bought Ben & Jerry's that allowed it to continue its 'social mission' and advocate for causes. 'We spent a tremendous amount of time and energy working on that document and negotiating it,' Cohen, 74, told the Journal. 'If not for that agreement, Ben & Jerry's would have died by now, and it would be just another ice cream brand.' Ben & Jerry's claims Unilever went against the agreement when it stopped the brand speaking out against Donald Trump after he won his second presidential election in November 2024. Ben & Jerry's had planned to take the Trump administration to task on minimum wage, universal health care, abortion, and climate change, per the suit. 'Despite four decades of progressive social activism—and years of challenging the Trump administration's policies, criticizing Trump was now too taboo for the brand synonymous with 'Peace, Love, and Ice Cream,'' Ben & Jerry's said in the lawsuit. Unilever in turn says the brand has pivoted to supporting 'one-sided, highly controversial, and polarizing topics' that put its other business interests at risk. However, Cohen - who remains an employee of Ben & Jerry's - is not ready to throw in the towel. 'Ben & Jerry's is a company with a soul,' he told the Journal.
Times
22-04-2025
- Business
- Times
Ben & Jerry's ice cream war intensifies after Unilever funding threat
The row between Unilever and Ben & Jerry's has escalated further after the parent company threatened to halt funding to the ice cream brand's non-profit organisation. The FTSE 100 company has reportedly asked the Ben & Jerry's Foundation to agree to an expedited audit of its donations if it is to continue its funding of the non-profit organisation. The Ben & Jerry's Foundation is an organisation that donates to a variety of social justice groups. It receives about $5 million in annual funding from Unilever which is calculated by a formula based on sales of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. • Ben & Jerry's founder sparks cold war to wrest back the brand from Unilever Sources told Reuters that Unilever is threatening to halt the
New York Post
22-04-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Unilever threatens to pull funding for Ben & Jerry's Foundation as progressive battle escalates: report
Unilever has threatened to pull funding for the Ben & Jerry's Foundation – escalating its battle to muzzle the left-leaning ice cream brand's progressive activism, according to a report. The company has demanded Ben & Jerry's Foundation submit to an expedited audit of its donations to continue receiving funding, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Unilever, which is based in London, gives approximately $5 million to the foundation each year, based on a formula of the ice cream company's sales and inflation, sources told Reuters. 3 Unilever has threatened to pull funding for the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, according to a report. REUTERS Ben & Jerry's and Unilever did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment. Ben & Jerry's Foundation donates to social justice grassroots organizations in the US, with an emphasis on groups in Vermont, where Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded the ice cream brand. It has supported the Human Rights Coalition, a prison reform group led by formerly incarcerated individuals; Felony Murder Elimination Project, which protests a California rule that allows the death penalty for felons who did not commit a murder; and Adelante Student Voices, a network for undocumented students. The company's threat to yank funding is retaliation for a lawsuit filed in November, when Ben & Jerry's accused Unilever of attempting to silence its pro-Palestinian messaging, the sources said. Ben & Jerry's has protested the war in Gaza and called for police departments to be defunded. The ice cream company – known for funky flavors like Phish Food, Half Baked and Chunky Monkey – has also accused Unilever of preventing it from speaking out against President Trump. 3 Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, co-founders of Ben & Jerry's, serving free ice cream during a Scoop The Vote event. Getty Images for MoveOn Cohen, who co-founded Ben & Jerry's in 1978, earlier this month revealed he's trying to gather a group of investors to buy back the brand, as Unilever prepares to spin off the company and the rest of its ice cream businesses. He pleaded with Unilever to 'set us free.' Tensions have been bubbling up for months as the parent company tried to silence its unruly ice cream brand. In March, Ben & Jerry's claimed Unilever fired chief executive David Stever – who started as a tour guide for the ice cream brand's Waterbury factory – over the company's anti-Trump political activism. 3 Ben & Jerry's claimed Unilever fired its longtime chief executive. Getty Images Ben & Jerry's said the firing violated its 2000 merger agreement with the London firm. Unilever, however, argued it has the authority to appoint a new chief executive, and that the decision would only be made after speaking with the board. It's unclear whether Stever is still with the company. With Post wires
Al Arabiya
22-04-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Unilever threatens to pull funding from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, sources say
Unilever is threatening to halt funding to the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, a US-based nonprofit that makes donations to social justice organizations, sources familiar with the matter said. Unilever is asking Ben & Jerry's Foundation to agree to an expedited audit of its donations to continue the funding, which amounts to roughly $5 million annually and is determined by a formula based on sales of the brand's ice cream, the two sources said. Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever in November to stop alleged efforts to dismantle its board and end its progressive social activism, which has included protesting the war in Gaza, supporting a movement to defund police, and attempting to criticize US President Donald Trump. The sources said Unilever is threatening to halt the funding in retaliation for the lawsuit, and because one of the ice cream maker's founders has tried to buy back the frozen dessert maker. Unilever, Ben & Jerry's and Ben & Jerry's Foundation did not immediately return requests for comment. The Ben & Jerry's Foundation has supported Homes for All St. Louis, an advocacy group for renters, the Felony Murder Elimination Project, a nonprofit that tries to reduce sentencing for inmates, and Adelante Student Voices, which supports undocumented students.
Business Times
21-04-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Unilever threatens to pull funding from the Ben & Jerry's Foundation: sources
[NEW YORK] Unilever is threatening to halt funding to the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, a US-based non-profit that makes donations to social justice organisations, sources familiar with the matter said. Unilever is asking Ben & Jerry's Foundation to agree to an expedited audit of its donations to continue the funding, which amounts to roughly US$5 million annually and is determined by a formula based on sales of the brand's ice cream, the two sources said. Ben & Jerry's sued Unilever in November to stop alleged efforts to dismantle its board and end its progressive social activism, which has included protesting the war in Gaza, supporting a movement to defund police, and attempting to criticise US President Donald Trump. The sources said Unilever is threatening to halt the funding in retaliation for the lawsuit, and because one of the ice cream maker's founders has tried to buy back the frozen dessert maker. Unilever, Ben & Jerry's and Ben & Jerry's Foundation did not immediately return requests for comment. The Ben & Jerry's Foundation has supported Homes for All St Louis, an advocacy group for renters, the Felony Murder Elimination Project, a non-profit that tries to reduce sentencing for inmates, and Adelante Student Voices, which supports undocumented students. REUTERS
