The co-founder of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s said parent company Unilever blocked the launch of an ice cream flavor expressing solidarity with Palestine.
Ben Cohen announced that he will independently create the new flavor as part of a personal series highlighting causes the company is prohibited from speaking about publicly.
Ben & Jerry’s is known for its activism on social issues and has consistently spoken out on political, environmental and humanitarian issues, including the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The BBC has contacted Unilever for comment.
Mr. Cohen’s statement deepens a long-running dispute between the world-famous ice cream maker and British packaged foods giant Unilever, which has owned Ben & Jerry’s since 2000.
The co-founders said Unilever and Magnum, the ice cream division being spun off from the parent company, illegally blocked the company from ‘respecting its social mission’.
Mr. Cohen said in an Instagram video on Tuesday that he was making a new watermelon-flavored sorbet, asking for ideas for a name for the product and what ingredients he should add.
Watermelon has become a symbol of solidarity with Palestine due to its similar colors to the Palestinian flag: red, green, black, and white.
The US entrepreneur said Ben & Jerry’s was blocked from making the dessert by Unilever.
“I’m doing what they can’t do,” Cohen said from his set in the kitchen. “I’m making watermelon-flavored ice cream to call for permanent peace in Palestine and to repair the damage that has been done there.”
In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s refused to sell its products in Israeli-occupied territories.. The Israeli operation was sold by Unilever to a local licensee, allowing ice cream to continue to be sold in the occupied West Bank.
The dessert series will be developed by Mr. Cohen’s activist ice cream brand, Ben’s Best, he said in a statement to the media. The statement said the flavors are being produced independently of Ben & Jerry’s.
Ben’s Best was first founded in 2016 with a flavor called “Bernie’s Back” to support former U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Cohen said Ben & Jerry’s will develop other ice cream flavors that address issues that have not been publicly addressed by Unilever.
Last September, co-founder Jerry Greenfield resigned after decades at Ben & Jerry’s. It raised concerns that Ben & Jerry’s independence had been undermined after Unilever decided to curb its social activities.
“Jerry had a really big heart, and the conflict with Unilever shattered that,” Ben Cohen said at the time.
He told the BBC’s PM program: “I continue to work within the company to champion its independence, ensuring that it delivers on its social mission – the values on which it was founded and which it has maintained for over 40 years.”
