By Aimee Look


One of Ben and Jerry's co-founders said the ice-cream maker's decision to remove three members from its independent board is an attempt by parent company Magnum Ice Cream to dismantle its social mission.

"This is a calculated escalation," Co-founder Ben Cohen said in a statement late Monday. "Magnum is hollowing out the very things that give Ben & Jerry's its soul, credibility, and worth."

Cohen's comments come after the Vermont-based brand said on Monday that it plans to set a nine-year term limit for board directors. The move will push out three board members and is part of a broader assortment of changes Ben & Jerry's said it would make to the body that dictates its social mission.

The co-founder said that the removal of three key board members--Anuradha Mittal, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson--indicates that Magnum Ice Cream wants to eliminate the board's independence. Cohen also claimed the company's decision to set a term limit strips the board of the legal authority that was agreed upon when Unilever acquired the business around 25 years ago.

Magnum Ice Cream, the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, declined to comment.

Magnum went public in December following a spinoff from Unilever. Co-founder Jerry Greenfield left the company in September--while Cohen remains an employee, but frequently voices his criticism of how it carries out its social mission.

The two co-founders long prioritized the company's social mission, and the acquisition agreement set out in 2000 gave Ben & Jerry's independent board leeway to make choices about the brand's mission and marketing. Since then, Unilever and Ben & Jerry's independent board locked horns on various geopolitical issues--such as the Israel-Gaza conflict.

"We are strengthening governance, increasing transparency, and committing ourselves to greater accountability," Ben & Jerry's Chief Executive Jochanan Senf said in a statement on Monday.

"These improvements matter because they will support us in our journey to become even more impactful and to drive progressive change for years to come."


Write to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-16-25 0620ET