Unilever has appointed Jochanan Senf as the CEO of Ben Jerry’s following the exit of former Dave Stever as the head of the subsidiary in March.
According to Ben & Jerry’s independent board, Stever was ousted earlier this year for defending the company’s social activism on issues like immigration, Black Lives Matter and pro-Palestinian protests.
In March, Ben & Jerry’s filed a case in New York accusing Unilever of removing Stever without the approval of the subsidiary's own board. The move, Ben & Jerry's contested, violated an agreement meant to protect its independence and social activism.
Under the terms of its acquisition of Ben & Jerry’s in 2000, Unilever agreed to retain an independent board of directors at the Vermont-based business who were focused on maintaining the brand’s social mission.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Ben & Jerry's board was not given the chance to interview candidates to succeed Stever. Just Food has asked Unilever to comment.
However, Unilever said in response that it “repeatedly sought to collaborate in good faith with the Independent Board regarding the selection of the new CEO.
“Any claims that the Independent Board was excluded from the search process are simply incorrect," the manufacturer said.
Disagreements between the businesses originated in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it was halting sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, causing a backlash in Israel which threatened a boycott of Unilever products. In June 2022, Unilever sold its ice cream operation in the country in an attempt to draw a line under a damaging diplomatic row.
Last November, Ben & Jerry’s filed a lawsuit saying Unilever had tried to stop it from expressing support for Palestinian refugees. Unilever denied the claims.
In February, in another court filing, Ben & Jerry’s said its owner had tried to ban it from publicly criticising US President Donald Trump.
Unilever is planning to spin off its ice-cream business later this year with the new company to be listed in Amsterdam, London and New York.
In a statement from Unilever, the FMCG giant described Senf as an “ice cream veteran” adding his career has been “deeply entwined with Ben & Jerry’s”.
According to Senf's LinkedIn profile, he spent seven years at Ben & Jerry's as MD for its business in Europe.
Senf has spent more than 20 years at Unilever included the role at Ben & Jerry's. Since 2022, he has been the general manager for Unilever's food business in the DACH markets.
The statement said: “This experience allowed him to learn first-hand the importance and power of Ben & Jerry’s unique three-part mission – product, economic and social – and how this is instrumental to the success of the business and its impact on communities.
In 2024, Unilever's ice-cream business generated a turnover of €8.3bn ($9.7bn), up 4.5% on a year earlier. The demerged business will be called The Magnum Ice Cream Company and based in the Netherlands.
