The Magnum Ice Cream Company has axed long-serving members of the Ben & Jerry’s brand’s independent board as the internal row at Unilever’s former ice cream division escalates.
The world’s largest ice cream company has mandated that members of Ben & Jerry’s independent board – set up to guarantee the brand’s freedom of speech – must not serve for more than nine years.
The new term limits will effectively bar three current members of the board from their roles – with chairwoman Anuradha Mittal deposed with immediate effect, according to the BBC.
In filings to the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in early November, Magnum said it had found Mittal “no longer met the criteria” to serve as chair.
The move is the latest in a long-running dispute within the brand over what Ben & Jerry’s claims is a legally enshrined right to political expression. The brand has often taken up the cause of dispossessed or oppressed groups, including Palestinians – whereas Unilever, and now Magnum, have tried to clamp down on the brand’s political expression for being overly partisan.
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen said the decree was a “blatant power grab” to “strip the board of the legal authority and independence it was guaranteed” when Ben & Jerry’s was acquired by Unilever in 2000.
“Anuradha Mittal, Daryn Dodson, and Jennifer Henderson have served this company with integrity and courage,” said Cohen.
“Over many years, they helped the board make bold, often difficult decisions to uphold Ben & Jerry’s social mission – even when it was inconvenient. That independence and principle is exactly what Magnum now wants to eliminate.”
Magnum’s public spat with Ben & Jerry’s leadership has overshadowed the new company’s 8 December IPO, with co-founders Cohen and Jerry Greenfield even attempting to buy back their former brand following Greenfield’s resignation from Magnum in September.
The Grocer has contacted The Magnum Ice Cream Company for comment.
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