Unilever appoints new Ben & Jerry’s CEO after new clash

Unilever has appointed Jochanan Senf as new CEO of its subsidiary Ben & Jerry’s. He is the first Dutch person at the helm of the American ice cream brand, but the appointment comes at a tense moment: Ben & Jerry’s is embroiled in another legal conflict with its parent company.

Bad terms

The leadership change was initiated in March, by the dismissal of CEO David Stever. He had been with Ben & Jerry’s since 1988 and was appointed as CEO in 2023, but the ice cream brand said its political and social activism was at the root of that dismissal. Parent company Unilever, which had acquired the company in 2000 and is spinning off its ice cream division this year, wanted to prevent its rebellious subsidiary from criticising American President Trump and the conflict in Gaza.