On September 17, Jerry Greenfield Co-founder of Ben. & Jerry’s shared that he would no longer be a part of the company. He claimed that because of Unilever, the business’s parent company, they had “lost the independence to pursue our values.” Unilever bought the company back in 2000 on the sole basis that Ben & Jerry’s would be able to spread their core principles to their customers. Though since then, both founders claim that Unilever has been silencing their opinions on a multitude of social issues including abortion rights and Israel and Gaza. Greenfield expressed his discontent with his departure though felt it necessary as he realized “that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.” The parent company strongly disagrees with the alleged claims of the founders and stated, that they 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.”  

Greenfield’s decision doesn’t come as a surprise to some though as both him and other co-founder Ben Cohen have had disputes with Unilever in the past. In 2022, the parent company sold their ice cream in Israeli-occupied West Bank settlements contrary to the co-founder’s decision. The company faced disagreements over many political and social issues like this which ultimately led Greenfield to his resignation.

Though his work to spread Ben & Jerry’s message wouldn’t end with his departure from the company. Greenfield stated how the ice cream shop wasn’t just about sweet treats and how “it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world… If I can’t carry those values forward inside the company today, then I will carry them forward outside, with all the love and conviction I can.”  Even though Ben & Jerry’s will now have to operate with only one of its original founders, their core values continue to spread and impact others.