Like any once-loving relationship that’s destined for divorce, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s fame has a message for parent firm Unilever: “We’ve gone separate ways in our relationship … set us free.”
That’s not just a way to end the acrimony between the two businesses, it’s a plea for Unilever to sell the American ice cream icon separately, not to include it in the spinoff of all Unilever ice cream businesses scheduled for sometime this year.
That’s something that Unilever says it will not do, despite all the trouble the little Vermont company has made for its European parent.
Today’s Wall Street Journal talked to Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, who is trying to line up like-minded investors to buy the brand that he sold to Unilever 25 years ago. We’ve chronicled most of the rancor between the two:
- The fight over sales in Israeli-occupied West Bank.
- Unilever’s refusal to allow a social media post on the day of President Trump’s inauguration.
- The firing of Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever without consulting the brand’s independent board.
Still, the Journal story is a good read. A subscription is required; see it here.
