Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen has accused Magnum Ice Cream Company of using “Orwellian” tactics to oust board members and muzzle the brand’s social mission – which has included support of Palestinians amid the war in Gaza.
Unilever – which acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 and agreed to maintain its independent board – last week spun off its ice cream brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, into a separate company known as Magnum.
Ben & Jerry’s CEO Jochanan Senf, who was appointed by Unilever, updated the board’s terms and added a nine-year limit, effectively pushing out three directors and arguing it would improve governance and transparency.
But Cohen – who co-founded the lefty ice cream brand with Jerry Greenfield in 1978 – said this defense of the board changes was “Orwellian.”
“They said that they’re enhancing the social mission when they’re actually destroying it. They said that they’re future-proofing the Board of Directors when they’re actually dismantling it,” Cohen told CNBC during an interview, calling it a “desperate power grab.”
A Magnum spokesperson told The Post that the board changes “aim to preserve and enhance the brand’s historical social mission and safeguard its essential integrity.”
Unilever did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
As part of the new term limit, Anuradha Mittal, who joined the board in 2007 and served as chair since 2018, was ousted – which Magnum said took place following “internal investigations.”
“Initially, they were trying to get rid of the chairman of the [independent] board, by making these unfounded allegations that she’s ‘not fit to serve’. They weren’t able to substantiate that, so now they’re saying, well, she served for too long,” Cohen told CNBC. “It’s arbitrary, and it’s illegal.”
Cohen, who still works for Ben & Jerry’s, said he doesn’t see any value in the Magnum spin-off, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, Heartbrand, Magnum and Cornetto and debuted on public markets in Amsterdam and New York last week.
“They don’t understand that the value of Ben & Jerry’s is tied up in the position that it has established as being in the forefront of businesses that have a concern for the overall benefit of the society, as opposed to just maximizing profits,” Cohen said of management.
Ben & Jerry’s raked in roughly $1.3 billion in revenue in 2024, making it the third-largest revenue generator out of the group’s more than 100 brands.
But Cohen argued investors would be much better off if Magnum sold off Ben & Jerry’s, took the money and “bought some other middle-of-the-road brands, because that’s what they’re good at.”
“There’s a lot of money to be made in middle of the road stuff, but they ought to stick to their knitting and not try to not try to force Ben & Jerry’s to become just another one of their middle of the road brands,” he continued.
Unilever and Magnum have repeatedly said Ben & Jerry’s is not for sale – but Cohen and Greenfield have been leading a #FreeBenAndJerrys campaign urging the company to sell the brand to a group of investors who would honor its social mission.
It’s the latest in a drawn-out battle between the brand’s liberal co-founders and its parent company – starting in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would end sales in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
Unilever responded by selling off the company’s license for the region.
In November 2024, independent board members filed a lawsuit accusing Unilever of gagging Ben & Jerry’s from speaking out in support of Palestinian refugees.
In a court filing, the board also accused Unilever of abruptly firing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever without giving board members a chance to interview replacement candidates.
Cohen told CNBC there is a group of investors “ready” to purchase Ben & Jerry’s. He accused Unilever and Magnum of refusing to disclose the necessary financial information to make a proper offer.
A Magnum spokesperson told The Post that it “remains unequivocally committed to Ben & Jerry’s three-part mission.”
But Cohen said the mission is “something that people who are brought up in the Unilever traditional system can’t understand.”
“It took us a long time to figure it out…and they’re just trying to make us into another piece of frozen mush,” Cohen added.
Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve told the Financial Times earlier this month that Cohen and Greenfield should “hand over to a new generation” – but Cohen said the sale is not about him.
“I have no problem handing over the company to this group of investors that support the values… and if Magnum actually supported the social mission, I’d have no problem with them doing it,” he told CNBC.
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