Ben & Jerry’s pro-Gaza stance risks derailing £7bn spin-off

Ben & Jerry’s pro-Gaza activism risks derailing the £7bn spin-off of Unilever’s ice cream division, the consumer goods giant has warned.

On Wednesday, Unilever said that statements from Ben & Jerry’s board on the conflict in the Middle East risked “reputational damage” to its new Magnum ice cream business.

The FTSE 100 giant is separating Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Cornetto and dozens of other brands into a new group called The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is set to be listed on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock markets.

In a prospectus issued to investors, Unilever said the political views of the US ice cream brand could harm the growth of the new business.

“There remains an ongoing risk that the statements and actions of the Ben & Jerry’s Board, its members or others associated with Ben & Jerry’s (including the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s) could adversely impact the Group’s reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations,” it said.

Founded in the late 1970s by progressive campaigners Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s board has been independent since Unilever acquired the brand in 2000, and describes itself as “empowered to protect and defend Ben & Jerry’s brand equity and integrity”.

However, the restructuring at Unilever – the company’s largest in two decades – will loosen the ties between the two groups following years of open conflict.

Tensions flared between the brand and its parent company in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop selling ice cream in “occupied Palestinian territory”.

Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever in 2022 after the latter sold distribution rights in Israel and the West Bank to a local licensee. The lawsuit was ultimately resolved out of court.

But the brand launched fresh legal action in November 2024, claiming that Unilever had tried to silence its “social mission” by blocking “statements the board wished to make on the conflict in the Middle East”, according to the report.

The board also alleges that Unilever blocked donations to activist groups Jewish Voice for Peace and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and that it “failed to purchase Palestinian almonds and erected extra-contractual hurdles regarding the purchase of those almonds”.

An investigation by external advisors found that the Ben & Jerry’s board chair “no longer meets the criteria” to serve. The new Magnum company said it “will consider its options depending on the response it receives from the Ben & Jerry’s Board”.

Unilever warned that the furore “may result in the types of reputational damage, consumer boycotts of products, investor claims or adverse shifts in consumer behaviour”, and there was a risk the Ben & Jerry’s Board could make “further legal claims being brought against the Group”.