by Ben Cohen, Founder, Ben & Jerry’s Magnum reports earnings today, and I’m speaking directly to investors. The company has inherited a governance crisis tied to its treatment of Ben & Jerry’s, one that poses real reputational and financial risk.
Read my open letter below, and decide for yourself:
Today, The Magnum Ice Cream Company (“Magnum”) will present its first set of results as an independent company, separate from Unilever.
More than 50,000 people wrote to Magnum’s board, shared their concerns about the negative impact their company has on the Ben & Jerry’s brand, and urged Magnum to sell the company. Magnum’s CEO, Peter Ter Kulve, chose not to listen. That’s why, ahead of the inevitable spin and speculation that occurs on earnings day, I want to take the time to speak directly to Magnum’s current investors.
Magnum’s own NEC filings acknowledge that the ongoing dispute with Ben & Jerry’s presents a material risk to the Group’s reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations. Corporate governance failures, especially those that lead to sustained litigation, are not abstract risks; they have real financial consequences.
The conflict centers on Magnum’s choice to abandon the values-driven business model that Ben & Jerry’s is known for. When Jerry Greenfield and I sold Ben & Jerry’s to Unilever in 2000, it was on one clear, legally binding condition: the Ben & Jerry’s social mission and essential integrity of the brand would be protected in perpetuity by an Independent Board. Under this structure, Ben & Jerry’s became Unilever’s most commercially successful ice cream brand.
Since 2022, however, Unilever and Magnum have been deliberately violating that contract. They publicly and privately threaten board members they disagree with, removed the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s when he carried out the wishes of the Independent Board, refused to post the Board-approved messages on social media, and, for the first time in over 20 years, refused to distribute funding awarded by the Board to the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation. Simply put, the values-based business that made Ben & Jerry’s so profitable for 40 years, is the very thing Magnum is destroying.
I also want to speak to those investors who may have bought shares decades ago in Unilever as a secure, stable investment. For every five shares a Unilever investor holds, they are given one share in Magnum. So now, many of you will find yourselves with a stake in this dispute.
Unilever was once a pioneer in responsible business, embedding environmental and social goals at the heart of its business strategy. Driven by the understanding that responsible practices fuel long-term growth, it led the way on fair wages across its workforce and supply chains, reduced its environmental footprint, and actively championed diversity and inclusion.
But I’m sorry to say that Unilever and Magnum are no longer the companies you were led to believe they were. Since 2024, Unilever has focused on one thing: maximizing short-term profit based on politically dictated views of how business should be done. It has scaled back its commitment to reduce its use of plastic packaging, abandoned a pledge to pay direct suppliers a living wage, and shelved a commitment to ensure 5% of its workforce is made up of people with disabilities.
Is this really the sort of business you want to be invested in?
If the answer is no, join us. Visit FreeBenAndJerrys.com, subscribe to our newsletter, and help us send a clear message to the Magnum board that it’s time to sell the company.
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