‘One of the hardest and most painful decisions’: Jerry of Ben & Jerry resigns from company

Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, has resigned from the company.

Greenfield’s resignation was announced on social media by the other co-founder, Ben Cohen, who shared a statement from Greenfield, which read, “It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s.”

Greenfield went on to say, “This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made.”

Greenfield and Cohen started their company in 1978 but sold it to Unilever in 2000, The New York Times reported.

He explained that when they first merged with Unilever, the agreement allowed their company to pursue Ben & Jerry’s “social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity.”

Unilever allowed the company to have an independent board to control the brand, allowing its founders to continue their social activism.

But “that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,” Greenfield said in the post.

Greenfield alleged that “Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced.”

You can read the entire statement here.

Unilever is splitting off the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which has said it has been trying to work with Greenfield and Cohen, CNN reported.

“We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” a company spokesperson told The Associated Press in a statement.

It also stood up for Black Lives Matter and criminal justice reform and spoke out for and against other political issues, The New York Times reported.

The company sued Unilever, accusing the parent company of censoring public statements supporting Palestinian refugees and resolutions to end military aid to Israel.

Greenfield and Cohen asked Magnum Ice Cream Company to allow their namesake to be broken off further from the company and allowed to operate independently.

Unilever declined, saying Ben & Jerry’s was a “proud part” of the Magnum Ice Cream Company and was not for sale.

The company said of Greenfield’s departure, “We will be forever grateful to Jerry for his role in co-founding such an amazing ice cream company, turning his passion for delicious ice cream and addressing social causes into a remarkable success story. We thank him for his service and support over many decades and wish him well in his next chapter.”

Greenfield and Cohen had not run the company, but were considered brand ambassadors, promoting new flavors and appearing at store openings, CNN reported.