Cherry Garcia’s Last Scoop: Jerry Quits 'Ben & Jerry’s'

In a move that tastes like a double scoop of disappointment topped with corporate sprinkles, Jerry Greenfield — co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s and one half of the Vermont duo that turned ice cream into political flavor — has announced he’s leaving the company after 47 years. 

The announcement, posted on social platform X by co-founder Ben Cohen on Greenfield’s behalf, reads like a breakup letter from your childhood favorite brand: part nostalgia, part moral indictment, and all very messy if you like your politics plain.

Greenfield’s central gripe? 

He says the independence that let Ben & Jerry’s speak on social issues was quietly scooped out by parent company Unilever. 

As Greenfield put it in the letter, “For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world.” 

He added that the social mission that was supposed to be protected by the merger agreement that brought Unilever into the picture “existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity. It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”

Ouch... 

Those are words that sting more than a surprise lemon sorbet. 

Greenfield didn’t mince his feelings about the moment in which he’s departing, either. 

He warned the company’s silence is happening “at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community.” 

He framed his exit in moral terms: “Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power,” he wrote. “It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.”

For anyone who grew up on pints like Cherry Garcia and Phish Food — ice creams that once wore their politics like colorful sprinkles — Greenfield’s farewell lands as a cultural moment. 

He reminded readers that Ben & Jerry’s was “always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world.”

Unilever, meanwhile, has been reorganizing. 

The consumer goods giant spun off its ice cream portfolio into a standalone business named The Magnum Ice Cream Company, and a spokesperson for Magnum offered a formal but cool-toned reply: “We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” the statement said. 

Magnum also tried balm-like reassurance: it remains “focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand.”

But this isn’t just a domestic quarrel over flavor profiles. 

The fallout between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever has been simmering for years. 

In 2000 Unilever bought Ben & Jerry’s for $326 million, a deal Ben and Jerry took with the understanding their social mission would be honored. 

Yet the last half-decade has seen public clashes: Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of unlawfully removing its CEO David Stever earlier this year and later sued the company in federal court in New York. 

The company also tussled with Unilever over political statements, including Ben & Jerry’s 2021 decision about Israeli settlements, and accusations that Unilever stifled posts about issues likely to be controversial in a second Trump term.

So what now? 

Jerry’s exit is both symbolic and practical. 

It’s a reminder that brand activism can’t be reduced to a marketing checkbox — for some founders it’s the core recipe. 

It also raises a question for consumers: when a brand sells out (literally or legally), what happens to the values that made people love it in the first place?

If nothing else, the drama provides a final, bittersweet lesson: you can try to bottle a movement into a pint, but when the taste of the politics changes, someone — often the founders who start with a spoon and a righteous cause — may walk away hungry for the old days.

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