A co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s has accused its homeowners of a recent try to “silence” its social mission by way of the departures of three members of its impartial board.
Ben Cohen spoke up after it emerged that its chair Anuradha Mittal, who had beforehand resisted mother or father firm strain to take away her, had left Ben & Jerry’s within the wake of recent guidelines imposed by the US model that included nine-year time period limits for board members.
It’s understood that two different long-standing administrators, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson, will see their phrases expire on 31 December.
Ben & Jerry’s has, since final week, been owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Firm (TMICC) which was created by a spin-off from the UK-based shopper items agency Unilever.
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The demerger from Unilever created an ice cream agency with 20% of the worldwide market. Pic:TMICC
Unilever purchased Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 however the relationship has been bitter since, regardless of the creation of the impartial board at the moment which was geared toward defending the model’s social mission.
Essentially the most high-profile spat got here in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s took the choice to not promote ice cream in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories on the grounds that gross sales could be “inconsistent” with its values.
Unilever responded by promoting the enterprise to its licensee in Israel.
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Sept: ‘Free Ben & Jerry’s’
A collection of rows have adopted akin to a tug of struggle, with Magnum refusing repeated calls for by the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s to promote the model again.
Magnum and Unilever argue its mission has strayed past what was acceptable again in 2000, with the model evolving into one-sided advocacy on polarising matters that threat reputational and enterprise injury.
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Co-founders Jerry Greenfield (proper) with Ben Cohen in September 2024. Pic: AP
TMICC declared final month that Ms Mittal “no longer meets the criteria” to serve after inside investigations.
An audit of the separate Ben & Jerry’s Basis, the place she can also be a trustee, discovered deficiencies in monetary controls and governance. Magnum mentioned the charitable arm risked having funding eliminated except the alleged issues have been addressed.
Ms Mittal had accused Magnum of makes an attempt to “discredit” her and undermine the authority of the impartial board.
Neither she, or the opposite two administrators set to go away the board, have been but to remark.
Mr Cohen mentioned the three administrators had served the corporate with integrity and braveness, calling their departure “another step in Magnum’s systematic effort to dismantle Ben & Jerry’s from the inside and silence the very social mission that gives the brand its value.”
Magnum mentioned it absolutely supported the steps Ben & Jerry’s was taking to reinforce board governance.
