Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who founded the Vermont company in 1978 with a mission to “advance human rights and dignity”, said they could no longer “sit idly” after Unilever sold its interest for ice cream on an Israeli license. holder. The founders claim the sale violates an agreement signed when Unilever bought the ice cream brand in 2000 for $326 million. “This agreement gave authority over the social mission to the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s,” Cohen said in an interview with US network MSNBC on Sunday night. “Unilever usurped their power and overturned the decision that was made and we cannot allow this to happen, we cannot sit idly by. “That basically means, ‘Well, the independent board doesn’t matter.’ Greenfield said the “social mission” agreement “lasts in perpetuity … and must be respected.” Unilever, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, said it reserves the right to make operational decisions for Ben & Jerry’s and that the sale of the license cannot be reversed. London-based Unilever has sold the Israeli arm of Ben & Jerry’s to Avi Zinger, owner of licensee American Quality Products (AQP). Ben & Jerry’s independent board had announced it would not renew a license with AQP, which made and distributed the ice cream in Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, when it expired at the end of the year. It said sales of its products in the occupied Palestinian territories were “inconsistent with our values”. This led Zinger to sue Unilever. This lawsuit was settled with the sale of the license. Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever in July, claiming the license sale violated the terms of a 2000 Unilever takeover agreement. “The company’s core values of promoting human rights and dignity, supporting social and economic justice for historically marginalized communities … are an integral part of Ben & Jerry’s identity,” the lawsuit filed in New York said. He warned that “without this court’s intervention, the independence of the Ben & Jerry’s board of directors will be lost and the integrity of the company’s brand … forever tarnished.” But a US district judge last month denied Ben & Jerry’s request for a preliminary injunction blocking the franchisee’s deal. Ben & Jerry’s said earlier this month that it planned to amend its lawsuit challenging the sale. Unilever has until November 1 to respond. The long-running saga compounds a series of crises for the consumer goods giant. In January, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) rejected Unilever’s £50bn bid for its consumer healthcare business, a deal that fell through that led to turmoil between Dove and Hellmann shareholders.
