Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have been at odds since at least 2021, when the ice cream maker said it would stop selling in the Israel-occupied West Bank.Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen said on Tuesday that the ice cream brand had, amid tensions with its parent Unilever UNLYF, tried to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between US$1.5-$2.5 billion, which had been knocked back.
“Unilever wasn’t willing to consider that,” Cohen told Reuters after a protest outside a Unilever investor event linked to a planned listing of the company’s broader Magnum ice cream unit that contains Ben & Jerry’s and brands like Cornetto.
As the new Magnum Ice Cream Company presented its growth plans on its first investor day ahead of the listing, the standoff highlights one of the challenges for the new firm as it looks to rev up growth and win over health-conscious consumers.
Protesting outside the London hotel, Cohen renewed his call for a Ben & Jerry’s spinoff, which the U.S. brand said was necessary to protect its social values after years of clashing with Unilever over Ben & Jerry’s vocal position on Gaza.
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, in Washington in June.Cliff Owen/The Associated Press
“We’re essentially saying to the Magnum Ice Cream Company and to those investors that they’re talking to today at that hotel: this is a crazy investment if what you’re buying is Ben & Jerry’s brand equity,” he said. “A lot of it is based on the social mission and the founders being aligned and on board.”
“Let Ben & Jerry’s be Ben & Jerry’s and let Magnum be Magnum and everything works,” Cohen said. “But it’s never going to work if the values of the owner of Ben & Jerry’s are opposed to the values of Ben & Jerry’s.”
New Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve, however, said that the brand would not be sold.
“The business is not for sale. It’s fully integrated in Unilever, in the Magnum Ice Cream Company,” he told investors.
CEO of the Magnum Ice Cream Company, Peter ter Kulve.Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have been at odds since at least 2021, when the Chubby Hubby ice cream maker said it would stop selling in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ben & Jerry’s has sued its owner over alleged attempts to silence it and called the conflict in Gaza a genocide, unusual for a major U.S. brand.
Opinion: Storm in an ice-cream cup: Ben & Jerry’s social activism vs. its corporate owner
Unilever has previously said that the comments reflect the views of the independent social mission board of Ben & Jerry’s, and they do not speak for anyone other than themselves.
Magnum Ice Cream is aiming for average annual organic sales growth of 3 to 5 per cent in the medium-term from 2026, matching Unilever’s overall outlook but exceeding the 3 per cent historic average for the ice cream business, the company said.
Unilever expects the ice cream unit, which includes brands such as Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Wall’s and Cornetto, to command just over a fifth of the around US$88-billion global ice cream market and compete with rivals such as Nestle-backed Froneri.
It expects the sector to grow to nearly US$106-billion by 2029.
The mid-November spinoff, which will reduce Unilever’s stake to less than 20 per cent, presents a crucial test for CEO Fernando Fernandez as he looks to shake up the consumer goods giant, streamline management and boost margins.
Its rivals, including Kraft Heinz, are also looking to split up to boost growth and valuations.
Keurig Dr Pepper announced plans last month to combine with JDE Peet’s and then separate its cold beverage and coffee divisions, while Swiss food giant Nestle is considering selling some underperforming brands.
Unilever’s ice cream business, which includes four of the world’s top five brands, generated €7.9-billion (US$9.3 billion) in revenue in 2024 and €1.3-billion of adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization. Magnum said its initial net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio was expected to be 2.4.
Ice cream was Unilever’s fastest-growing category in the second quarter with underlying sales growth of 7.1 per cent, but the division has lagged in terms of margins.
The ice cream split forms part of Unilever’s efforts to operate a more focused portfolio of goods that will enable it to enhance productivity and drive growth.
Magnum aims for productivity savings of €500-million in the medium term, through reducing overheads, a technology focus and bringing its complex “cold” supply chains together.
The new ice cream business will also test investor appetite for a sugar-heavy product at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing to “make America healthy again” and GLP-1 weight loss drugs are increasingly popular.
Magnum said GLP-1 drugs should have “limited impact.”