The Magnum Ice Cream Company dismisses Anuradha Mittal, the chair of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors. With this move, the publicly traded company hopes to regain control of the activist ice cream brand in a long-running conflict.
“Flagrant power grab”
Chair Mittal is being sidelined by Magnum following an investigation into conflicts of interest at Ben & Jerry’s charity, reports the Financial Times. Mittal was reportedly told that she is no longer suitable for the position of chair of Ben & Jerry’s independent board. At the same time, two other board members, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson, will also have to step down because TMICC has set a nine-year term limit for board members.
This is the next chapter in a long-running conflict between Unilever‘s former ice cream division, which has been listed separately on the stock exchange since last week, and the activist brand Ben & Jerry’s, which was sold to the multinational in 2000 by founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. At the time of the sale, they obtained guarantees that the brand’s social mission would be respected, but in recent years, the owner has intervened in criticism of US President Trump and the conflict in Gaza.
The founders are calling for their ice cream brand to be “freed” from the parent company, but the owner is unwilling to agree to this. Greenfield has since resigned, but Cohen has promised to continue to make life difficult for TMICC as long as they refuse to sell the brand. In a response, he called the dismissal of three board members a “flagrant power grab.” Magnum CEO Peter ter Kulve believes it is time for the founders, now in their seventies, to pass the baton to a new generation, he told the Financial Times last week.
