What’s happening between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever? Summary
- Ben Cohen says Unilever blocked a pro-Gaza ice cream flavour
- He’s now crowdsourcing a watermelon sorbet calling for Palestine peace
- Watermelon symbolises Gaza solidarity due to Palestinian flag colour links
- Unilever says it rejected the proposal as not commercially viable
- Cohen also campaigns to reclaim Ben & Jerry’s brand independence
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen is accusing Unilever of blocking the brand’s creation of a pro-Gaza ice cream.
It happened “a while back”, says Cohen on social media. Ben & Jerry’s wanted to make it, but “weren’t allowed to”.
So the co-founder is taking it upon himself to develop the product: a watermelon-flavoured sorbet that “calls for permanent peace in Palestine”.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder crowdsources for flavour
If Unilever won’t support Ben & Jerry’s development of a pro-Gaza ice cream, Cohen’s going to go ahead and do it anyway. He’s made an Instagram video from his own kitchen – featuring himself, some watermelon, and an empty ice cream pint.
“I’m making what they couldn’t,” he tells his followers. “I need your help to come up with the other ingredients for the sorbet, and the name for it as well.”
The crowdsourcing effort has officially launched. It’s understood the base flavour will be watermelon – a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause due to its colour links (red, green, white and black) to the Palestinian flag. The public is being invited to share their favourite watermelon flavour combinations.
The current frontrunner is rose water, date, pomegranate molasses and watermelon. Coming second, watermelon with honey, pine nuts, mint and lime.
The name is also up for grabs. The most popular to date is ‘Sweet Resistance’, followed by ‘Freemelon’ and ‘Seeds of Freedom’.
Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t make commercial decisions, Unilever does
Unilever confirms Ben & Jerry’s did propose a new product launch of this nature in recent months, and that it wasn’t approved.
Leadership considered the proposal, but ultimately decided “it is not the right time to invest in developing this product”, explains a spokesperson from The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
It’s likely there’s disagreement between Ben & Jerry’s independent board of directors and Unilever over what should count as “social mission” and “commercial strategy”. The former remains the domain of Ben & Jerry’s, but the latter belongs to Unilever.
“The independent members of Ben & jerry’s Board are not, and have never been, responsible for the Ben & Jerry’s commercial strategy and execution,” explains the spokesperson.
Latest controversy for Unilever ahead of ice cream demerger
Cohen’s activism doesn’t stop at sorbet. The co-founder has also been reigniting a long-standing battle over Ben & Jerry’s autonomy and campaigning to reclaim Ben & Jerry’s independence from its parent company.
Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s 25 years ago, but in that time the brand has repeatedly accused its parent company of silencing its “freedom to pursue its social mission” – which Unilever agreed to back in 2020.
It’s looking unlikely the co-founder will get his way, and he’s now leading the campaign solo. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield resigned from his role as brand ambassador amid the dispute.
The CEO of Unilever’s ice cream division, which is set to be spun off, has stressed Ben & Jerry’s is not only “fully integrated” in the company, but under Unilever ownership it’s “doing phenomenally well”.
If there’s any doubt in anyone’s mind, the ice cream chief has been keen to dispel any doubts: “The business is not for sale."
Displaying confidence and surety is a smart move ahead of the demerger. The Magnum Ice Cream Company is working to secure new shareholders after all.
There’s much less confidence in when the demerger will actually take place, however. It was scheduled for 10 November, but that’s since been postponed. No new date has yet been announced.
