Ben & Jerry’s has made changes to the corporate governance rules for its board, moves that will lead to the departure of its chair.
The changes are intended “to preserve and enhance the brand’s historical social mission and safeguard its essential integrity”, the US business said.
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Ben & Jerry’s is now part of the new The Magnum Ice Cream Company, the publicly listed ice-cream business spun off by Unilever earlier this month.
Ben Cohen, one of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry and who sold the business to Unilever in 2000, has reportedly criticised the move.
There has been tension in recent years over issues including the governance of Ben & Jerry’s, the independence of its board and the company’s activism.
Under the updated rules, directors on Ben & Jerry’s independent board will now be subject to a maximum term of nine years.
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By GlobalDataThe changes mean Ben & Jerry’s board chair Anuradha Mittal and two other members – Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson – will depart. They will no longer be able to seek re-election when their current terms expire in 2026.
In a statement, Jochanan Senf, the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, said: “These improvements matter because they will support us in our journey to become even more impactful and to drive progressive change for years to come.”
In a statement to the BBC, Cohen condemned the move, calling it a “blatant power grab designed to strip the board of legal authority and independence”.
Cohen was quoted as saying: “Anuradha Mittal, Daryn Dodson, and Jennifer Henderson have served this company with integrity and courage. Over many years, they helped the board make bold, often difficult decisions to uphold Ben & Jerry’s social mission.”
Jerry Greenfield, Cohen’s fellow co-founder, had already resigned from Ben & Jerry’s in September. Greenfield was said to be disenchanted over a lack of independence from Unilever, particularly around expressing social values.
Last week, The Magnum Ice Cream Company initiated talks with the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation to fix “governance” issues identified in a recent audit.
Earlier this year, Ben & Jerry’s filed a case in a New York court accusing the FMCG giant of ousting its then-CEO Dave Stever in what was deemed as an attempt by Unilever to silence the mission agenda.
In another court filing last year, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever had tried to ban it from publicly criticising Trump. The ice-cream maker also filed a lawsuit that same year claiming Unilever had tried to stop it from expressing support for Palestinian refugees.
Unilever had sold its ice-cream operation in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in 2022 in an attempt to draw a line under a diplomatic row stemming from Ben & Jerry’s halting sales in the territory the previous year. In retaliation, Israel had threatened a boycott of the company’s products.
