Ben & Jerry's Co-Founder Claims Unilever Blocked Palestine-Inspired Ice Cream

Thu Oct 30 2025 17:11:23 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Ben Cohen reveals he will create a new ice cream flavor in support of Palestine, accusing Unilever of stopping Ben & Jerry's from expressing solidarity.

Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, has claimed that their parent company, Unilever, blocked the release of an ice cream flavor that would express solidarity with Palestine. Cohen intends to independently produce a watermelon-flavored sorbet, a tribute to the Palestinian flag's colors. The ongoing dispute highlights tensions between Ben & Jerry's social activism and Unilever's corporate restrictions.

The co-founder of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's, Ben Cohen, has asserted that Unilever, the company's parent corporation, obstructed the launch of a new ice cream flavor intended to show solidarity with Palestine.

In response, Cohen declared his plan to create the flavor independently as part of a personal campaign to highlight causes that the company has purportedly been barred from addressing publicly.

Ben & Jerry's, known for its activism on social issues, has consistently voiced its positions on political, environmental, and humanitarian matters, including the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The BBC has reached out to Unilever for their comments on this allegation.

Cohen's statement intensifies the longstanding conflict between the renowned ice cream brand and Unilever, which has owned Ben & Jerry's since 2000. The co-founders alleged that Unilever and its ice cream brand, Magnum, unlawfully prevented them from honoring its social mission.

Cohen revealed in an Instagram video that he is developing a watermelon-flavored sorbet, which he describes as a symbol of solidarity, given its colors resembling the Palestinian flag—red, green, black, and white.

He stated, I'm doing what they couldn't. I'm making a watermelon-flavored ice cream that calls for permanent peace in Palestine and calls for repairing the damage that was done there. This new dessert series will be part of Cohen's activist ice cream brand, Ben's Best, developed independently from Ben & Jerry's.

The controversy follows Ben & Jerry's previous decision in 2021 to halt sales in areas occupied by Israel, a move that escalated tensions between the ice cream maker and its parent company. Unilever later sold the Israeli operation to a local licensee, allowing the products to continue in the occupied West Bank.

Ben's Best was created in 2016 to support former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders with a flavor called Bernie's Back. Cohen plans to produce other flavors that address issues he claims Ben & Jerry's was restrained from discussing.

Recently, co-founder Jerry Greenfield stepped down from his position, citing concerns over the diminishing independence of the ice cream company due to Unilever's restrictions on its activism.

Cohen has expressed determination to advocate for the company's independence to align with the social mission and values that have defined Ben & Jerry's for over four decades.