Ben & Jerry's says Unilever ousting ice cream maker's CEO over social activism

By Jonathan Stempel and Jessica DiNapoli

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ben & Jerry's said its parent company, Unilever, decided to oust the ice cream maker's chief executive, Dave Stever, escalating a battle over the subsidiary's independence on social policy issues.

In a Tuesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Ben & Jerry's said Unilever advised on March 3 it was "removing and replacing" Stever without approval from its independent board, after repeatedly threatening personnel if they did not comply with the parent's "efforts to silence the social mission."

Stever was named Ben & Jerry's chief executive in May 2023, after having been with the maker of Cherry Garcia since being hired as a tour guide in 1988.

Ben & Jerry's has been suing Unilever to stop the parent's alleged efforts to dismantle its board and end its progressive social activism, which has included protesting the war in Gaza and supporting a movement to defund police.

The latest accusations were included in a proposed amended complaint, which Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's needs court permission to file.

Unilever, based in London, had faced a Wednesday deadline to seek dismissal of Ben & Jerry's earlier complaint. It did not respond to several requests for comment.

The alleged censorship reflects corporate fear at retaliation by the Trump administration or other governmental bodies in their "crusade against all things DEI," said Doug Chia, president of advisory firm Soundboard Governance, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"For a corporation, they don't want to take any chances on any statements about any social issue or political issue or geopolitics," Chia said.

He said some of Ben & Jerry's stances are "pushing it very far in a progressive direction in a very vocal way," more reflective of an advocacy group or non-governmental organization than a mainstream maker of ice cream.

Ben & Jerry's has had a socially conscious mission since its 1978 founding by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

Unilever bought Ben & Jerry's in 2000.

The companies have been at odds since 2021 when Ben & Jerry's decided to stop selling ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, calling it inconsistent with its values. That business was later sold.

Many companies have retreated on social policies that Donald Trump and other conservatives deem too liberal, as the U.S. president seeks to reshape the federal government and parts of corporate America.

Last month, Ben & Jerry's accused Unilever of unilaterally banning it from publicly criticizing Trump, ostensibly because of the "new dynamic."

Unilever plans to spin off Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Magnum and other ice cream brands later this year, as it simplifies a product portfolio whose dozens of other brands include Dove, Hellmann's, Knorr, Surf and Vaseline.

The case is Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc v Unilever et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 24-08641.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Alistair Bell)