Ben & Jerry’s will be destroyed as a brand if it remains with parent company Magnum, company co-founder Ben Cohen told the BBC.
His comments are the latest in a long-running dispute between the ice cream brand and its parent company over its ability to express its social activism and the continued independence of its board of directors.
The day comes when the Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) began trading on the European stock market, spinning off from the owner Unilever.
A Magnum spokesperson said the firm wanted to build and strengthen Ben & Jerry’s “powerful, non-partisan, values-based position in the world.”
Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever in 2000 in a deal that allowed it to retain an independent board of directors and the right to make decisions about its social mission.
Since the sale, clashes between the Vermont-based brand and Unilever have deepened, a conflict that Magnum now inherits.
In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s refused to sell its products in Israeli-occupied areas, prompting Unilever to sell its Israeli operation to a local licensee, and in October, Ben Cohen said he was prevented from launching an ice cream expressing “solidarity with Palestine.”
Last month, ahead of its spinoff from Unilever, Magnum said Ben & Jerry’s board chair Anuradha Mittal, who has held the position since 2018, “no longer meets the criteria to serve,” saying this was the result of an internal audit.
A Magnum spokesperson said it had found “a number of material deficiencies in financial controls, governance and other compliance policies, including conflicts of interest.”
“So far, administrators have not fully remedied the identified deficiencies,” they said.
In a statement to Reuters, Mittal said: “The so-called audit of the foundation was a fabricated investigation, designed to try to discredit me.
“It is important to understand that this is not simply an attack on me as chairman. It is Unilever’s attempt to undermine the authority of the Board itself.”
The BBC has contacted Ben & Jerry’s for this statement.
Cohen said Magnum “has no ability to determine who should be the chairman of the independent board.”
“Therefore, in trying to [change the chair of the board]”I would say Magnum is not fit to own Ben & Jerry’s,” he added.
Cohen called for the company to be “owned by a group of investors who support the brand and want to foster the values” or for Magnum to do a “180-degree turn and say it supports the independent chairman of the board.”
Before Monday’s split, Reuters news agency reported that Mittal said he had no plans to leave the board.
Ben Cohen remains an employee of Ben & Jerry’s and the brand’s most prominent spokesperson.
He told the BBC he feared that under current ownership the ice cream maker’s “loyal” fans would be lost forever.
“If the company remains owned by Magnum, not only will the values be lost, but the essence of the brand will be lost,” he said.
On Sunday, Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve told the Financial Times that Ben & Jerry’s founders were in their seventies and “at a certain point they will have to pass the baton to a new generation.”
Jerry Greenfield, Cohen’s co-founder, left the ice cream shop in September after nearly half a century with the company, citing concerns about its social mission being stifled.
“It’s absurd,” Mr. Cohen said.
“It’s about values and respecting a legally binding agreement.”
Cohen added that investors in Magnum were being asked to pay a premium for the Ben & Jerry’s brand “because it has such a loyal following.”
“As they destroy Ben and Jerry’s values, they will destroy their fans and they will destroy that brand,” he said.
“It will become just another piece of frozen porridge that will lose a lot of market share.”
A Magnum spokesperson said Ben & Jerry’s was “not for sale” and had “always respected” the brand’s commitment to continuing its “social mission.”
The spin-off of Unilever’s ice cream business saw Magnum’s primary shares open at €12.20 (£10.66), below the expected reference price of €12.80 (£11.18) set by Amsterdam’s EuroNext exchange. But at the close of the session it recovered 1.3%.
The demerger means Magnum is now the largest independent ice cream business in the world.
