Real Reason Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Jerry Greenfield Departed, and What It Means for Unilever

Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, has stepped down from the ice cream brand after nearly five decades, claiming there were irreconcilable differences with its parent company Unilever over the future of its social mission.

In a letter shared on social media by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Greenfield said the company had lost its independence after Unilever curtailed its tradition of outspoken activism. He described the decision to leave as “one of the hardest and most painful” of his life, adding that he could no longer “in good conscience” remain at a business that had been “silenced”.