Ben & Jerry’s said its parent, Unilever (ULVR.L), 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 Stever without consulting directors because of his commitment to the ice cream maker’s social mission and brand integrity, not because of concerns about his job performance.
It said Unilever chastised Stever in a January performance review for “repeatedly acquiescing” to Ben & Jerry’s promotion of social goals, and has repeatedly warned personnel not to defy its efforts to “silence the social mission.”
Ben & Jerry’s also said Unilever’s attacks on its social mission have reached “new levels of oppressiveness.”
If you wanted to retain control, you should never have sold it to Unilever.
What did you think would happen when you sold out!?
One supposes they wanted to get the fat stacks but maintain control via PR.
Unfortunately for them, PR has a dollar value to corporations, and once the cost of PR exceeds its value, it is no longer an effective barrier to action.
Will be interesting to see if it works out for them like it did for Target. There’s a growing list of companies that progressive Americans will no longer support. B&J could easily join that list.
One capitalism rock please.
Why these companies keep selling themselves to giant corporate overlords I’ll never understand.
$$$$$$$
Because somebody on the top found an opportunity to make money on it. That’s how the corpo world works
B&J’s enshitified a while ago. There are better ice creams.
They have some of the best vegan icecreams. I wish there were some good alternatives that I can get here.
If it’s not cream (as in dairy) then it’s not icecream. It’s frozen dessert.
Gr8 b8 m8.
Cream as in creamy.
Get over it.
They have some of the best vegan icecreams.
🤢
So, you do realize that there are people who can’t have dairy, right? And those people might still want ice cream.
I imagine if those people had a choice, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream.
Then you don’t have a great imagination.
I imagine someone with a dairy allergy would be more appreciative of alternative options than someone who clearly doesn’t need to worry about it.
It’s not a team sport, it’s fucking ice cream. Get over it.
Vegan ice cream has fiber. Coconut ice cream, unless it’s vanilla, tastes exactly the same as regular ice cream. Except it has a smaller carbon footprint and some actual nutrition. It’s not good for you of course, but the fiber makes it so it’s actually filling. And most modern diets have fiber deficiencies.
Can you recommend a specific one? I’m absolutely certain that I’ll prefer real ice cream, but I’ve never tried vegan ice cream, and maybe someday I will.
Ben&Jerry’s. They have lots of flavor options, pick what you like!
You imagine wrong. If I know a vegan ice cream has good flavor and texture, I’ll opt for it over dairy ice cream. A delicious dessert that doesn’t give me room-clearing farts? Yes, please!
So if people can’t have dairy, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream? That seems like a wrong statement.
There are many people who loved dairy icecream before going vegan, becoming lactose intolerant or even realizing they are lactose intolerant. Why would you not enjoy something that tastes 99% the same?
So if people can’t have dairy, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream? That seems like a wrong statement.
Yeah, I agree. Why did you make that statement?
What the hell are you on about?
And what’s your mythical third option then?
Sorbet is excellent.
Yeah, that sucks. It doesn’t make vegan ice cream good though.
Then don’t eat it? What the fuck is your problem outside of “it’s vegan”?
I don’t?
Great, then quit being a little bitch about the existence of something that has zero effect on you. It’s not fucking team sports. Grow the fuck up.
They’re very good.
Uh Hu-Vee gallon bucket of french vanilla?
Align with the devil…
It would be nice to understand what these social policies are otherwise this means nothing.
if you read the article
It said Unilever blocked it in February from honoring Black History Month, and more recently from supporting the release from detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. legal permanent resident active in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and who the Trump administration wants to deport.
The one I know is their pro-Palestinian position. They tried to divest from Israeli settlements and in return Unilever created another subsidiary to handle sales in Israel IIRC.
Unilever plans to spin off Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Magnum and other ice cream brands later this year.
What’s even the point of getting rid of their CEO then?
Sometimes pettiness is all they need. When THQ went bankrupt, Ubisoft bought their studio that hired Patrice Désilets (creator of assassin’s Creed) just so they could shut down his new project and fire him again.
SR3 still has the best overall combination of character customization, stat advancement and urban open world. Its not even close to the best at any single one of them but its still the only game that actually pulls off all 3 well. What happened to that series post bankruptcy is a tragedy.
Thinking it would go any other way is extreme naïveté. They’re not. They might have ‘wanted’ to have their ice cream and eat it too, but they wanted the money more. 🤷♂️
I don’t remember which company it is, but a CEO with socially progressive views was appointed by shareholders. He believes that you can be ethical and still run a multibillion company. After a year, he was replaced. It wasn’t explicitly mentioned but we know why he was replaced.
Unless you own the company yourself, I think you could be ethical. But more cut throat rivals would undermine you, leaving you with no choice but to either let your company be bought because you simply cannot compete, or you could keep up with the Joneses and follow along with cut throat tactics to remain competitive.
The third option though is if you are comfortable enough with what you are earning that you don’t feel the need to compete and expand. This is what many family-owned Japanese businesses do. Those businesses have been passed down from generation to generation stretching back hundreds of years. A lot of said businesses explain they do not want to expand because it is risky and are happy enough with their enterprise.
Look it’s amazing the company last this long. Just stop buying it and got to your local gelato place after checking Facebook to make sure you’re not supporting a neo Nazi.
🙄 because it was bound to turn out differently. Please.
