Jerry Greenfield, a co-founder of the beloved Ben & Jerry's ice cream company, resigned because he was emotionally "torn apart" and felt "muzzled" by parent company Unilever, his co-founder, Ben Cohen, said.
Cohen shared Greenfield's resignation announcement Tuesday on X.
In an open letter, Greenfield said that after 47 years, he was leaving the company with a “broken heart” and that parent company Unilever had "silenced" Ben & Jerry's from openly campaigning for social causes it believes in.
“Jerry has a really big heart. This conflict with Unilever has been tearing him apart for quite some time now. I think this is the right move for Jerry,” Cohen, who co-founded the ice cream company with Greenfield in 1978, told NBC's Hallie Jackson on Wednesday.
“Jerry felt like the values are getting muzzled by Unilever and now Magnum, and he couldn’t stand it. So he’s decided to resign,” Cohen said.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Magnum said that it would be forever grateful to Greenfield for his contributions to Ben & Jerry’s, and it thanked him for his service but said it was not aligned with his viewpoint.
Anglo-Dutch packaged food giant Unilever bought the brand in 2000 for $326 million. About a year ago, Unilever said it planned to spin off its entire ice cream division under the Magnum Ice Cream Co.
When Unilever was making the plans to separate its ice cream division, Greenfield and Cohen asked that Ben & Jerry’s be carved out so it could “be owned by investors that are aligned with the social mission ... and they were not willing to do that,” Cohen said.
For Cohen, his "heart says to keep fighting, and Jerry is very supportive of that."
He said the difference in Ben & Jerry’s crusade this time around under Magnum is making their stance public.
“I believe that we’ll be able to create enough consumer demand pressure on Magnum to see the light and just abide by the acquisition agreement and allow Ben & Jerry’s to become owned by a group of socially aligned investors. That’s what Jerry wants. That’s what I want,” Cohen said.
Magnum said in a statement that it has sought to engage with both Greenfield and Cohen “in a constructive conversation.”
“We remain committed to Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission — product, economic and social — and remain focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand,” the company said.
Cohen disagreed, saying Wednesday that Magnum has “muzzled the company when it tries to speak out against the slaughter in Gaza, when it tries to speak out in support of freedom of speech and the right to protest, when it tries to speak out in favor of diversity, equity and inclusion, when the company tries to speak out in support of something as noncontroversial as Black History Month.”
Cohen said he won't follow Greenfield out the door.
“I think Ben & Jerry’s is a phenomenon. It’s a big platform, it’s a billion-dollar company, you don’t start something like that overnight, and I think it’s worth saving,” he said. “I think that Ben & Jerry’s has demonstrated that you can have these humanistic values, that you can really practice peace and love and care for people that have been exploited, marginalized, oppressed, and still run a very profitable business.”