Exclusive-Ben & Jerry’s says parent Unilever silenced it over Gaza situation By Reuters
Written by Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s said in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that its parent company Unilever (LON:) has muted its efforts to voice support for Palestinian refugees, and threatened to dissolve its board and sue its members over the issue.
The lawsuit is the latest sign of a long-running dispute between Ben & Jerry’s and consumer products maker Unilever. The two were at loggerheads in 2021 after Ben & Jerry’s said it would stop selling its products in the Israeli-controlled West Bank because they did not meet its standards, a move that led to some investors dumping Unilever shares.
The ice cream maker then sued Unilever for selling its business in Israel to its licensee there, which allowed marketing in the West Bank and Israel to continue. That case was settled in 2022.
In its new lawsuit, Ben & Jerry’s says Unilever violated the terms of the 2022 settlement agreement, which remains confidential. As part of the agreement, however, Unilever is required to “respect and acknowledge the primary responsibility of Ben & Jerry’s independent board regarding Ben & Jerry’s operations,” according to the lawsuit.
“Ben & Jerry’s has made four attempts to speak publicly in support of peace and human rights,” according to the lawsuit. “Unilever has silenced all these efforts.”
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ben & Jerry’s said in the lawsuit that they tried to call for an end to the fighting, support the safe passage of Palestinian refugees to Britain, support students protesting at US colleges against the deaths of civilians in Gaza, and advocate for a freeze on US military aid to Israel, but were blocked by Unilever. .
An independent board spoke separately on some of those topics, but the company was silenced, the lawsuit says.
Ben & Jerry’s said Peter ter Kulve, Unilever’s head of ice cream, said he was concerned about the “perpetuating anti-Semitic perception” about the ice cream brand expressing its views on Gazan refugees, according to the lawsuit.
Unilever is also required under the settlement agreement to make a total of $5 million in payments to Ben & Jerry’s in order for the brand to make donations to human rights groups of its choice, according to the lawsuit.
Ben & Jerry’s singled out the left-leaning Jewish Voice for Peace and the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, among others, the filing says.
Unilever in August objected to the selection, saying that Jewish Voice for Peace was “very critical of the Israeli government,” according to the lawsuit.
Ben & Jerry’s has positioned itself as socially conscious since Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield founded the company in a renovated gas station in 1978. It kept those machines after Unilever acquired them in 2000.
In March, Unilever said it would restart its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, by the end of 2025 to streamline management.
Unilever’s range of products includes Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Knorr bouillon cubes, Surf detergent and Vaseline petroleum jelly.
