Frequently Asked Questions
What’s all this about?
In 2000, Ben & Jerry’s was acquired by Unilever through a legally binding merger agreement that guaranteed the brand the freedom to pursue its social mission and live by its values. This was a key condition of the merger agreement, cementing the protection of the company’s autonomy through the formation of an independent board which would act as the protector of the Ben & Jerry’s social mission, brand integrity, and product quality.
However, over the last five years, the independence of the board has been steadily eroded, and the unique voice of the brand has been muzzled. On topics like celebrating Black History Month and calling out the slaughter in Gaza, the company has been silenced. Decisions promised to Ben & Jerry’s independent board have been overruled. The contract that guaranteed Ben & Jerry’s freedom has been categorically violated.
That’s why, in September 2025, ahead of Unilever spinning off its ice cream division under The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s wrote an open letter to investors and Magnum’s new board calling for the brand to be allowed to operate independently once again, supported by socially aligned investors and free to live its values.
TMICC went ahead with its IPO in December 2025. Since then, its efforts to scoop out what makes Ben & Jerry’s valuable, its social mission, have deepened. It has attempted to unilaterally remove members of the independent board, threatened backroom deals to its Chair to protect its reputation, and attempted to undermine the reputation of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation.
TMICC can’t be trusted to look after Ben & Jerry’s. It will destroy everything the brand stands for, all in the mindless pursuit of profit and pandering to those in power.
That is why we are calling for a #FreeBenandJerrys. Until it is free, neither the brand itself nor Magnum will be able to thrive.
Why does this matter?
This time in our collective history has been marked by strongman politics and the crushing of progressive and liberal values across the globe. As free speech and tolerance come under threat, companies like Ben & Jerry’s, which were founded on progressive, humanitarian values, must stand up and defend their mission.
Freeing Ben & Jerry’s would be a powerful signal that people and companies can still take principled stands and act on their values, rather than being mindless in the pursuit of profit. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream sells best when the brand’s values are preserved, and it’s free to express its views authentically.
The time to act is now. If Ben & Jerry’s continues to be silenced, businesses and communities will believe that speaking out has a cost. When Ben & Jerry’s regains its independence, it will prove that values-driven businesses can not only survive, but truly thrive.
If Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t sit under Unilever anymore, then what’s the issue? How is Magnum connected?
In 2025, Unilever restructured its ice cream division and spun it off into a new company. The new company, The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), made its IPO in December 2025.
Unfortunately, TMICC is led by the same executives who were in control at Unilever. Its board is dominated by current and former Unilever executives, who have proved that the muzzling of Ben & Jerry’s will only continue — between them, the board has a collective 78 years of Unilever experience.
TMICC, its parent company Unilever, and its shareholders need to understand that the best course of action for the brand and for TMICC is for Ben & Jerry’s to be truly independent once again.
How important is the social mission?
The social mission is the very essence of what makes Ben & Jerry’s valuable. Without it, you’re buying just another empty pint. Magnum has preached about Ben & Jerry’s social mission when it mattered most to them. Its Capital Markets Day presentation to investors proudly paraded the “unwavering generosity” of the founders, who created a “movement beyond ice cream” — showing Ben & Jerry’s social mission as integral to the brand’s value, and the price premium investors are being asked to pay. It’s not something that can be hollowed out when it’s convenient.
How has Unilever / Magnum broken the terms of the merger agreement?
Unilever / Magnum has continued to violate the terms of the original merger agreement over the last five years, silencing Ben & Jerry’s unique voice and preventing it from carrying out its vital social mission. You can see some examples on the timeline here, but below are the key moments you should know about.
- 2021: Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s management, and the independent board agreed to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (PTO). Despite this, Unilever sold the Israeli business to a former licensee, which continued sales in the PTO. Because of this…
- 2022: The independent board filed its first lawsuit against Unilever for breaching the terms of the merger agreement. A settlement was reached reaffirming the board’s authority and requiring Unilever to honor the terms of the original sales agreement – but the issue was far from resolved.
- November 2024: The independent board filed a second lawsuit alleging that Unilever had violated the 2022 settlement. This included claims that Unilever blocked Ben & Jerry’s from making public statements condemning the war in Gaza, clearly violating the 2000 merger agreement.
- March 2025: The board alleged in an amendment to the November 2024 lawsuit that Unilever had unlawfully removed Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever, in addition to refusing to let the company publish a social media post criticising Donald Trump.
- December 2025: The board filed a motion to add TMICC as a defendant to its filing from March, alleging that earlier in December, TMICC had forcibly removed the board’s Chair, Anuradha Mittal, and imposed new eligibility requirements and term limits on other board members, forcing them to undergo new training or face removal.
- January 2026: The board filed the latest lawsuit against TMICC, alleging that it had blocked the appointment of Chris Miller – a former Ben & Jerry’s global social mission director – as an independent director, after initially supporting his nomination and then reversing course.
What else did we learn from the latest lawsuit?
The January 2026 lawsuit is the latest piece of evidence that Magnum has violated its legally binding merger agreement and used pressure, manipulation, and backroom tactics to sidestep due legal process and undermine the independent board and the Foundation. Here are some key things we learned:
- Magnum launched a “routine” audit — right after the board fought back in court. In April 2025, just weeks after the independent board brought its latest legal filings, Unilever / Magnum demanded an “expeditious” audit of the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation — the first in 24 years. Funding for the Foundation was then withheld for months and released only after the audit concluded, a move that looks less like oversight and more like pressure.
- They promised transparency… then hid the audit in September 2025, Ernst & Young submitted its final audit report. However, the filings make it clear that Unilever / Magnum executives concealed the information from Foundation trustees and ultimately refused to share it — even though Magnum publicly claimed the report had already been “shared”. We wonder why Magnum felt, just a matter of days after the IPO, that it had to fudge the truth in a press release. Perhaps it was to calm investors after a less-than-desirable share price?
