Ben & Jerry's co-founder creating watermelon-flavoured ice cream to support Palestine

The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said on Tuesday that its parent company prevented it from creating an ice cream flavour supporting peace in Palestine.

Ben Cohen, 74, who co-founded the socially conscious American ice cream brand in 1978 with Jerry Greenfield, said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that the brand’s parent company, Unilever/Magnum, had blocked them from creating the watermelon flavour as a tribute.

“A while back, Ben & Jerry’s tried to make a flavor to call for peace in Palestine - to stand for justice and dignity for everyone…but they weren't allowed to. 

“They were stopped by Unilever/ Magnum...just like when Ben & Jerry’s tried to stop selling ice cream in the occupied territories, they were blocked again by their parent company”. 

Cohen then said he was doing what Unilever/Magnum couldn’t do and announced his intention to create an ice cream flavour that supported his original intention. 

“I'm making a watermelon-flavored ice cream that calls for permanent peace in Palestine and calls for repairing all the damage that was done there,” he said while blending watermelon in a bowl. “I'm doing this to shine a light on the experience of Palestinian people and children in particular. So the world does not look the other way”.

He then asked viewers for suggestions on additional ingredients for the ice cream and designs for the ice cream tub, adding that “revolutions are creative” and that he wanted to see some of that creativity. 

Cohen’s video focused on the future well-being of Palestinians, saying they deserved "safety".

“The scale of suffering of the Palestinian people over the last two years has been unimaginable,” he said. “So the ceasefire is a welcome relief, but there's much more work to do to rebuild. Palestinians are still living under occupation, still recovering from years of suffering, especially Palestinian children. They deserve dignity, safety, and the same rights that every human being should have.” 

A spokesman for The Magnum Ice Cream Company said in a statement to Middle East Eye: “The independent members of the Ben & Jerry's board of directors made a proposal in this direction [ice-cream flavor in support of Palestine] this summer. The independent members of Ben & Jerry's Board are not, and have never been, responsible for Ben & Jerry’s commercial strategy and execution."

“Recommendations are considered by Ben & Jerry's leadership, and Ben & Jerry’s management has determined it is not the right time to invest in developing this product."

Independence

Cohen and Greenfield sold their company to the British firm Unilever in 2000, but negotiated an agreement that would allow them to retain independence over their social mission and values. 

However, both Cohen and Greenfield have said that their independence has been stifled by Unilever, leading Greenfield to resign from the company in mid-September.

Ben & Jerry's co-founder resigns over social mission being 'silenced'

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In a letter he sent to the firm, he said that Ben & Jerry’s had lost “the independence to pursue our values”. The company is committed to a diverse social mission where they have been vocal about several progressive issues such as racial justice, climate justice, LGBTQ rights and threats to democracy. 

Both founders objected to the business operating in illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories and announced in 2021 that it would no longer sell ice cream in there, sparking the first legal dispute with Unilever. 

Ben & Jerry's then sued Unilever in November over accusations that it silenced the ice cream maker's attempts to express support for a ceasefire in Gaza and support for Palestinian refugees.

The ice-cream brand said it was silenced four separate times when it tried calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, advocating for halting US military aid to Israel, supporting university students protesting against Israel's war on Gaza, and supporting the safe passage of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to the UK.

In the lawsuit, Ben & Jerry’s said that Unilever's head of ice cream told them he was concerned that the company being vocal on the war in Gaza could lead to a "continued perception of antisemitism". 

Cohen was arrested in May after he protested against the US giving military aid to Gaza at a Senate committee hearing on Capitol Hill.

In September, Ben & Jerry’s became part of Unilever's independent subsidiary, The Magnum Ice Cream Company, as Unilever prepares to spin off Magnum into a separate public company, which includes brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Walls and Cornetto. 

At the same time, Ben & Jerry’s began a public campaign asking Unilever/ Magnum to set them free. 

The spin-off was planned for mid-November, but a report by AFP earlier this month said Unilever had postponed the demerger because it was unable to have its listing on the New York Stock Exchange approved due to the current US government shutdown.