Unilever appoints new Ben & Jerry’s CEO as battle – Business News
Unilever has appointed a new CEO to steer Ben & Jerry’s as its battle over the ice cream model’s lefty politics heats up, based on a report Friday.
Jochanan Senf, a Dutch Unilever government who beforehand managed Ben & Jerry’s Europe business, will begin within the new function this month after the British dad or mum company abruptly axed former CEO David Stever, based on the Wall Street Journal.
In a courtroom submitting in March, Ben & Jerry’s unbiased board — which manages the Vermont-based company’s social activism and mission — had accused Unilever of firing Stever, who began as a tour information for the model’s Waterbury manufacturing facility in 1988.
Jochanan Senf will take over Ben & Jerry’s. LinkedIn / Jochanan Senf
Former CEO Dave Stever (left) on the company’s Free Cone Day on the Waterbury manufacturing facility. Ben & Jerry’s
The board — which was created and given energy over management as a stipulation within the acquisition settlement when Unilever took over the company in 2000 — was not allowed to interview candidates to exchange Stever, a source conversant in the matter advised the Journal.
The board additionally was excluded from the appointment course of over the board’s political activism – together with help for anti-Trump insurance policies and protests towards Israel’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, based on the report that cited unnamed sources.
“Any claims that the Independent Board was excluded from the search process are simply incorrect – they have been offered to participate in good faith and to share their views, but declined to do so,” a spokesperson for the Magnum Ice Cream Company advised The Post in a assertion.
Ben & Jerry’s didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s requests for remark.
The company “took every step to collaborate in good faith” with the board all through the appointment course of, Peter ter Kulve, who runs Unilever’s ice cream unit, wrote in a memo to workers on Thursday, based on the Journal.
Unilever inspired members of the board’s appointment committee to interview candidates and share suggestions, he stated.
“The response from the Independent Board was to decline our requests, delay our timing and/or threaten litigation.”
Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen, co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s, labored with a “Get out the Vote” marketing campaign for then-vice president Kamala Harris during her presidential marketing campaign. Getty Images for MoveOn
Unilever’s firing of Stever broke its merger settlement with Ben & Jerry’s, which “protects Ben & Jerry’s interest by precluding the unilateral removal of its CEO,” based on the grievance filed in March.
The dad or mum company responded that it has the authority to nominate a new chief government and that it might solely achieve this after talking with the board.
Unilever is planning to spin off its ice cream unit this 12 months, renamed the Magnum Ice Cream Company. It might be listed within the Netherlands as a separate company.
Unilever is planning to spin off its ice cream unit, together with Ben & Jerry’s, and rename it the Magnum Ice Cream Company. REUTERS
Earlier this 12 months, when it introduced the spin off, Unilever made clear it has no intention of promoting Ben & Jerry’s – regardless of a bid from its liberal founders.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, childhood associates from Long Island, NY, created the company – recognized for funky flavors like Chunky Monkey and Phish Food – in 1978. It later bought the model to Unilever for $326 million.
