Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen lashed out at parent company Magnum Ice Cream in an interview with CNBC, saying it is “destroying” the brand.

Magnum, the world’s largest independent ice cream company, is only a week old, but it’s already experiencing the corporate drama of a lifetime.

Ben & Jerry’s chief executive Jochanan Senf, who was appointed by Unilever, said changes to the board’s terms, including nine-year term limits, a board cadence with an “engagement agreement” and an obligation to adhere to the Magnum Code of Business Integrity, would strengthen governance and transparency.

However, Cohen calls it “Orwellian.”

“They say they’re strengthening the social mission, but they’re actually destroying it. They say they’re future-proofing the board, but they’re actually dismantling it,” Cohen told CNBC. “This is yet another desperate bid for power.”

Three directors were ousted from Ben & Jerry’s independent board as of Monday, taking a new twist in the conflict between the brand named after its famous founder and its parent company over the brand’s social mission. Newly launched Magnum inherits the ranks of consumer giants Unilever It officially spun off into an independent company last week.

Ben & Jerry’s’ latest move to change the board’s governance is intended to “preserve and enhance the brand’s historic social mission and preserve its fundamental integrity,” the company said in a statement. Press release.

The company said chairperson Anuradha Mittal was one of the board members told she was ineligible and following an “internal investigation” she was told she “no longer meets the criteria to serve as a board member”, without providing further details.

“Initially, they tried to get rid of the (independent) board chair through baseless accusations that she was ‘unfit to serve.’ They couldn’t substantiate that, so now they’re saying, well, she’s been in office for too long,” Cohen said. “It’s arbitrary and it’s illegal.”

Ben & Jerry’s was sold to Unilever in 2000, a deal that allowed the brand to retain an independent board of directors and the right to make decisions about its social mission. Since 2021, however, the board of directors and founders Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have become increasingly dissatisfied with what they call attempts to “suppress” the social mission.

Unilever, now Magnum, reserve Primary responsibility for all matters not related to the social mission or matters expressly delegated to the Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors, including financial and operational aspects.

CNBC has reached out to Magnum and Unilever for comment. Unilever said Ben & Jerry’s’ social mission had gone beyond what was agreed in 2000 and that the company was creating significant reputational and commercial risks.

Not for sale

Unilever and Magnum have repeatedly said Ben & Jerry’s is not for sale.

Ben & Jerry’s is one of the ice cream group’s four globally recognized brands, along with Heartbrand, Magnum and Cornetto. Ben & Jerry’s generated revenue of €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) for the group in 2024, making it the third-largest revenue generator in the group’s portfolio of more than 100 brands. These four brands together accounted for 82% of the group’s total annual revenue.

Unilever first announced plans to spin off its ice cream unit last March. ‘We need to really focus on ice cream,’ Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street Last week, the focus was on how the company has managed to increase market share and sales.

Due to pure ice cream ingredients debut On December 8, the stock rose by about 10% on the public markets in Amsterdam and New York, and is currently valued at nearly 9 million euros. The company has set a target for revenue growth of 3% to 5% from 2026.

But Cohen, who still works at the brand, doesn’t see any benefit in the brand he co-founded in 1978 remaining in the ice cream group.

“They’re short-sighted, but I also think they just don’t understand,” he said of management. “They don’t understand that the value of Ben & Jerry’s is tied to the position it has established as being at the forefront of a business that cares about the overall good of society rather than just maximizing profits.”

“If Magnum ends up selling this asset, investors will be in a much better position because they’re devaluing it and using that money to buy some other middle-of-the-road brand because that’s what they’re good at,” he added. “There’s a lot of money to be made on the middle-of-the-road stuff, but they should stick to their knitting and not try to force Ben & Jerry’s to be another of their middle-of-the-road brands.”

In September, Cohen and Greenfield launched Activity #FreeBenAndJerrys, calling on its parent company to allow it to become “an independently owned company with socially aligned investors and once again be free to fulfill its social mission and stay true to its brand values ​​without compromise.”

The campaign aims to encourage a group of investors who believe in the social mission to buy back into the brand.

“We have the team and they’re ready,” Cohen said, adding that Unilever and now Magnum have refused to disclose the financial information necessary for investors to make a reasonable offer. Cohen declined to name the investors.

Unilever said in its third-quarter earnings report that Ben & Jerry’s achieved mid-single-digit growth, driven by the continued success of newly launched innovative products such as new dairy products, non-dairy flavors and Scoopapalooza, but did not specify other financial information for each brand.

Peace, love and ice cream

Ben & Jerry’s mission has three components: social mission, product mission and financial mission, which Cohen said are equally important and interrelated. “This is something that people who grew up in the traditional Unilever system don’t understand. It took us a long time to figure it out… and they just want to turn us into another piece of frozen mush.”

“Ben & Jerry’s can’t sustain the values ​​of its brand without being owned by a group of investors who truly support the social mission rather than trying to destroy it,” Cohen said of the brand whose slogan is “Peace, Love and Ice Cream.”

Magnum CEO Te Culver Tell The Financial Times said earlier this month that Cohen and Greenfield should “hand over power to a new generation.”

But Cohen said it has nothing to do with him personally and everything to do with upholding the company’s values. “Values ​​don’t age,” he said.

“I have no hesitation in placing the company in the hands of this group of investors who support our values… If Magnum truly supports its social mission, I have no problem with them doing so.”