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Magnum Ice Cream Co. has moved to remove the chairman of Ben & Jerry’s board over an alleged conflict of interest, according to people familiar with the matter, as the ice cream business spun out of Unilever tightens its grip on one of its key subsidiaries.
The development escalates a battle between newly listed Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s independent board and its co-founder Ben Cohen over how the brand communicates its “social mission.”
Magnum informed Ben & Jerry’s Chairman Anuradha Mittal on Monday that she is no longer eligible to serve on the board, effective immediately, after an external investigation and an audit of the brand’s charitable arm, of which she is a trustee, revealed a conflict of interest, according to people with knowledge of the matter. He declined to provide details of the alleged conflicts.
Magnum announced last month that Mittal no longer “meets the criteria” to serve on Ben & Jerry’s board, without providing further details.
When it was axed a week ago, Magnum inherited a long-running dispute between Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s board over its powers to define the direction of the brand.
The board has accused Unilever of blocking its calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and stopping it from supporting Palestinian refugees.
The board was established in 2000, when Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield sold the business to Unilever to protect the brand’s social mission and integrity.
The deal allowed Unilever to choose the chief executive of Ben & Jerry’s, but only a minority of the board of directors.
Unilever controlled the Ben & Jerry’s brand, which Magnum now does after being separated from its FTSE 100 parent.
Magnum Chief Executive Peter ter Kulve cracked down on Ben & Jerry’s administration ahead of the spinoff and became embroiled in a war of words with Cohen, who still works at the brand. Ter Kulwe said Cohen should pass it on to the next generation.
On Monday, Ben & Jerry’s announced governance changes to its board, including a nine-year term limit for directors.
The brand said two directors, whom it did not name, were told they would not be eligible for re-election next year because they had exceeded term limits.
“In total, three directors have been informed of their ineligibility to serve on the board,” Ben & Jerry’s said, without identifying them.
Mittal, Darrin Dodson and Jennifer Henderson are the only Ben & Jerry’s board members to have served for more than nine years.
Other changes outlined by Ben & Jerry’s include setting a board meeting schedule with a “protocol on engagement” and reaffirming its obligation to comply with the parent company’s business code.
Ben & Jerry’s chief executive Jochanan Senf, appointed by Unilever, said the changes would strengthen governance and increase transparency at the brand.
“These reforms matter because they will help us on our journey to become more effective and drive progressive change in the years to come,” he said.
Magnum said: “Ben & Jerry’s is a proud, prosperous and integral part of our business and we fully support the steps they are taking to enhance the board’s governance to ensure the continuity of their social mission in the years to come.”
Cohen said: “Removing three key members from the independent board is another step in Magnum’s systematic effort to dismantle Ben & Jerry’s from the inside and silence the social mission that gives the brand its value.”
He said that when Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s it was a “blatant exercise of power designed to take away the board’s legally guaranteed authority and independence”.
A spokesperson for Ben & Jerry’s board did not respond to a request for comment about Mittal, Dodson and Henderson.
Shahmir Halepota, the board’s legal adviser, said in a statement last month after Magnum said Mittal no longer met the criteria to prove that the allegations were “nothing more than a coordinated campaign of extreme personal defamation”.
