Multinational conglomerate Unilever, the owner of some 400 brands, announced Tuesday it is spinning off its ice cream business — including major names like Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Magnum, Popsicle and Klondike — after more than a century.
The consumer goods giant said the move was part of a growth strategy that would create a leaner business. At the same time, by shedding Ben & Jerry's, Unilever is ridding itself of a longtime headache.
Since its founding in 1978, Ben & Jerry's has been known for its left-leaning advocacy, and the Vermont-based ice cream maker was able to maintain an independent board of directors to continue its progressive activism even after it sold to Unilever in 2000.
But in recent years, the unique structure of the deal that allowed Ben & Jerry's to wade into controversial issues without interference has pulled Unilever into the fray, too.
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The biggest lightening rod began in July 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell its products to Israelis in the West Bank, which the company refers to as Occupied Palestinian Territory.
The move sparked outrage from both sides of the political aisle amid accusations that the company was boycotting Israel as part of the boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement, which Ben & Jerry's denied. Israel threatened to take action against Unilever over the move, and U.S. lawmakers called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a probe into the parent company.
Unilever — which has repeatedly distanced itself from Ben & Jerry's political takes and said it has never supported the BDS movement — sold the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream operations in Israel in June 2022 in an attempt to stem the controversy, but its subsidiary's activism has continued to tarnish the brand and drag Unilever with it.
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Ben & Jerry's was also hit with its own boycott threat last year after the company angered some Americans on Independence Day with a post on Twitter (now X) that read, "This 4th of July, it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it."
Several U.S. states have divested their public employee retirement funds from Unilever over Ben & Jerry's ending sales of its products in parts of Israel, including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and most recently North Carolina.
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell, a Republican, told FOX Business in an interview earlier this year that it’s not likely Unilever anticipated allowing Ben & Jerry's to have its own board would lead to so many problems.
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"I don’t know the people at Ben & Jerry’s. I respect their entrepreneurship. I think when they signed the contract, Ben & Jerry’s anticipated something like this," said Folwell, also a 2024 candidate for governor.
"Unilever didn’t anticipate anything like this," he continued. "Generally, when a parent tells a kid not to do something, they expect them to listen."
FOX Business' Daniella Genovese and Fred Lucas contributed to this report.
