Row deepens as three board members eliminated | EUROtoday

Three members of Ben & Jerry’s unbiased board will now not be eligible to serve of their roles, after the ice cream firm launched a brand new set of governance practices.

These embrace a nine-year restrict set on board members’ phrases. Chair Anuradha Mittal, who earlier stated she had no plans to resign below strain, is amongst these affected.

The transfer was criticised by the corporate’s co-founder Ben Cohen, who referred to as it a “blatant power grab designed to strip the board of legal authority and independence”.

His remarks are the newest in a long-running spat between the model and its mum or dad firm over its potential to precise its social activism and the continued independence of its board.

The BBC understands that Ms Mittal will depart the corporate instantly, whereas board members Mr Dodson and Ms Henderson will go on the finish of this 12 months.

“Anuradha Mittal, Daryn Dodson, and Jennifer Henderson have served this company with integrity and courage. Over many years, they helped the board make bold, often difficult decisions to uphold Ben & Jerry’s social mission,” stated Mr Cohen.

Ben & Jerry’s stated the transfer is aimed “to preserve and enhance the brand’s historical social mission and safeguard its essential integrity.”

The Vermont-based agency is now owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company, after a by-product from Unilever final week that created the world’s largest standalone ice cream maker.

A spokesperson for Magnum stated the agency wished to construct and strengthen Ben & Jerry’s “powerful, non-partisan values-based position in the world”.

But Ben & Jerry’s can be destroyed as a model if it stays with Magnum, Mr Cohen instructed the BBC.

Ben & Jerry’s was offered to Unilever in 2000 in a deal which allowed it to retain an unbiased board and the appropriate to make selections about its social mission.

Since the sale there have been deepening clashes between the Vermont-based model and Unilever, with this battle now inherited by Magnum.

In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s refused to promote its merchandise in areas occupied by Israel, leading to its Israeli operation being offered by Unilever to a neighborhood licensee.

Co-founder Jerry Greenfield left Ben & Jerry’s in September after virtually half a century on the agency, deepening a dispute with mum or dad firm Unilever.

In a letter shared on social media by Mr Cohen, Mr Greenfield stated the Cherry Garcia maker had misplaced its independence after Unilever put a halt to its social activism.