One of the co-founders of the famous ice cream brand Ben and Jerry's has claimed that corporate owner the multinational conglomerate prevented the launch for an innovative Palestine-themed ice cream flavor.
The entrepreneur, who co-founded the business with Jerry Greenfield, revealed how he will independently develop the controversial flavor within a personal series highlighting issues Ben & Jerry's was prevented from speaking out about.
This latest development escalates the continuing tension among the world-famous dessert company and Unilever, the British packaged goods corporation which acquired the ice cream brand for over two decades.
Both founders maintain how Unilever and its ice cream arm the Magnum brand improperly prevented Ben & Jerry's from "fulfilling its ethical commitments".
Mr. Cohen stated through an Instagram video how he's developing a new watermelon-flavored frozen dessert, asking for consumer ideas for naming options and potential ingredients.
“I'm doing what they were prevented from doing,” the founder commented in his kitchen. “I'm making a watermelon-flavored ice cream that calls for lasting ceasefire for Palestinians while demanding repairing the damage that was done there.”
This particular fruit has become a symbol for solidarity with the Palestinian people because of its colors, that closely resemble the colors in Palestine's national banner – the distinctive four-color pattern.
In 2021, Ben & Jerry's refused to sell its products in areas under Israeli control, leading to Unilever transferring their Israel business over to an Israeli distributor, thus allowing ongoing distribution in the occupied West Bank.
The new product line will be created through Mr. Cohen's personal brand, the activist ice cream brand which was first created several years back for endorsing ex- US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders with the flavor "Bernie's Return".
The founder indicated how he plans to develop other frozen dessert varieties focusing on concerns that the company was prevented from speaking about openly by corporate restrictions.
This development follows partner Jerry Greenfield resigned his position at the company in September, after decades with the organization, citing concerns regarding how its independence was undermined following corporate moves to curb its social activism.
Previously, Ben Cohen remarked how “My partner has strong compassion and the ongoing dispute with our parent company was deeply distressing him."
"My heart leads me to continue to work within the organization to fight for its independence so that it can actualise the social mission, the principles that it was founded on and has maintained for decades," he explained to media outlets.
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