Ben Cohen (left) and Jerry Greenfield, co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s, attend a Peace Day celebration on Sept. 21, 2009, in New York City. Greenfield announced this week that he’s resigned from the company. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Ben & Jerry’s
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Ben & Jerry’s
Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of the beloved ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, announced this week that he’s resigned from the company he helped create in the late 1970s over an ongoing dispute with its parent company, Unilever.
The Vermont-based ice cream maker, with its zany packaging and inventive flavors, has long been known for its progressive politics and the company routinely speaks out on social issues.
But in a public resignation letter posted online Tuesday, Greenfield said Ben & Jerry’s “has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power” by Unilever, the multinational corporation that bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.
“And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women,