The Scoop
Unilever is cutting off millions in funding for Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation after it refused to provide audit documents, escalating what has become a microcosm for corporate “woke” wars.
Peter ter Kulve, who runs Unilever’s ice cream business, told Ben & Jerry’s executives in an email that the foundation’s trustees “have continued to resist basic oversight” and are not cooperating with requests from corporate auditors ahead of the ice cream business’ spinoff from Unilever. The probe into the foundation began in part because of its giving to pro-Palestinian organizations, Semafor reported earlier this year.
“It represents a marked departure from the norms of charitable organizations, for whom transparency is typically a bedrock operating principle,” ter Kulve wrote in the email, which was seen by Semafor.
The Ben & Jerry’s foundation distributed more than $5 million of Unilever’s money in 2022, to mostly progressive organizations, and has done so ever since the quirky, left-leaning Vermont creamery was acquired by the Dutch corporate giant in 2000. Since then, Ben & Jerry’s politics have been a headache for its parent, and the tensions between the two have grown more acute as the business community got swept into the culture wars — first pulled to the left in the mid-2010s, then retreating rightward under the second Trump administration.
Ter Kulve wrote that management of the soon-to-be standalone ice cream company had met with foundation trustees and “consistently sought to accommodate concerns” they raised, including switching audit firms and promising to keep certain information about grantees private.
“The Foundation is a powerful force for good and has played a meaningful role in advancing the Ben & Jerry’s social mission,” ter Kulve told executives. “We remain committed to that mission.”
Representatives for Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for the foundation’s trustees didn’t immediately comment.
Know More
Unilever decided to spin off its ice cream business last year. The audit of Ben and Jerry’s foundation was part of that process. But it has devolved into a turf war between Unilever and the foundation, whose trustees claim their parent company is using the transaction as a pretense to attack its charitable giving.
The troubles date back to at least 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s said it would stop selling its products in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Unilever sold the regional Ben & Jerry’s license in response.
Ben & Jerry’s independent directors sued Unilever in November, accusing their parent company of silencing the ice cream maker’s statements in support of Palestinian refugees. Other court documents allege that Unilever muzzled Ben & Jerry’s social media posts that mentioned President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Nelson Peltz, the billionaire investor and Unilever director who introduced the president to Musk.
Notable
- Activist Robbie Starbuck told Semafor earlier this year he was planning a lobbying group to pressure corporate America to drop DEI targets, to prevent “a situation where we have totally parallel economies,” with blue brands and red brands, because it’s “going to hurt our economy.”