One of America’s most iconic entrepreneur stories — of two guys and a lot of ice cream — has come to an end. Jerry Greenfield, who co-founded Ben & Jerry’s with Ben Cohen in 1978, just announced his sudden departure from the company.
On Sept. 16., Cohen posted a letter on X — written by Greenfield to the Ben & Jerry’s community — detailing Greenfield’s decision to step away from the company after 47 years.
“It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s,” the letter begins. He added that the choice was “one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made.”
Greenfield clarified that he has made the decision to step down because Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, has silenced the company’s freedom to advocate for social issues — a core tenet of Ben & Jerry’s that was supposed to be safeguarded by Unilever “in perpetuity.”
“For more than 20 years under [Unilever’s] ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice, and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world,” Greenfield wrote. However, Greenfield has “come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”
“And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community.“
Greenfield added that he feels “Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.”
In the midst of this deteriorating relationship, Unilever is preparing to spin off its ice cream division into a standalone company, the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is expected to go public in November.
