Activists and investors make their voices heard at Magnum’s annual meeting

The “Free Ben & Jerry’s” movement used The Magnum Ice Cream Company’s first annual general meeting to once again draw attention to the activist ice cream brand’s position within the group. Major shareholders have also expressed criticism.

Support from investment funds

The first shareholders’ meeting of Magnum Ice Cream Company, held on May 7, was not without incident. Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, continues to tirelessly champion the social mission of “his” brand, and activists demonstrated outside the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport, where the meeting took place. Notably, this movement now also has the open support of a group of major shareholders.

Seventeen investment funds that collectively own at least $1.3 million in Magnum shares—including NorthStar Asset Management, Trillium Asset Management, Domini Impact Investments, and Mercy Investment Services—sent a letter to the company prior to the meeting calling on it to explain how it intends to guarantee the independence of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. They are also asking the company to publish separate revenue and profit figures for the brand.

“Respectfully disagree”

The investors fear that Magnum’s current policies are destroying brand value at Ben & Jerry’s. “They’ve dismantled the brand’s social mission which, for us as investors, is the brand equity,” Whitney Nguyen, director of impact research at NorthStar, told Reuters.

In a response, Magnum stated: “While we respectfully disagree with the characterisation presented by NorthStar, we are always happy to engage ‌with shareholders ⁠and look forward to doing so. We remain committed to having a Board, led by an Independent Director, to continue its role of helping guide the social mission and brand integrity, alongside the CEO.”