Ben & Jerry's

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American premium ice cream brand known for creative flavors and social responsibility.

Last updated October 23, 2026

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First read: Nov 3, 2026
Latest read: Nov 3, 2026

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History

Ben & Jerry's began in 1978 when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened a small ice-cream shop in Burlington, Vermont. With limited capital, the founders used their training in ice-cream production to build a business centered on rich textures, large inclusions, and accessible humor. Their early retail strategy combined a local scoop shop with packaged pints, allowing the company to move beyond Vermont and enter the wider American grocery market. During the 1980s, the company expanded through distribution, franchised scoop shops, and distinctive advertising. A notable early competitive dispute arose in 1984, when the company challenged an attempt connected with Häagen-Dazs distribution restrictions in Boston. Ben & Jerry's public campaign, built around the question of what the rival's parent company was afraid of, helped establish the brand's willingness to use publicity and advocacy in commercial disputes. The business continued to broaden its product range with ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, novelty products, and numerous pint flavors. Flavor names and collaborations became central to its identity. Cherry Garcia, created with a connection to musician Jerry Garcia, and later collaborations such as Stephen Colbert's AmeriCone Dream demonstrated the company's ability to combine entertainment, cultural references, and product development. Social purpose became increasingly formalized as the company grew. Ben & Jerry's supported community organizations and campaigns involving peace, economic justice, environmental protection, racial justice, refugees, and democratic participation. From 2005 to 2008, it worked with climate-change and conservation organizations on youth-oriented climate communication initiatives. In 2014, the company participated in an Australian reef-protection campaign involving WWF Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society. In 2020, it joined the Stop Hate for Profit initiative and paused paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram while calling for stronger action against hate and racism on social platforms. By the late 1990s, pressures associated with consolidation in the ice-cream industry and the company's market position led its board to examine strategic alternatives. In April 2000, Unilever acquired the company for a reported $326 million. The transaction retained a degree of institutional separation for the brand, including an independent board associated with its social mission, while integrating the business into Unilever's global distribution and operating system. The founders no longer ran day-to-day operations, but continued to influence public debate about the company's purpose and governance. The relationship between Ben & Jerry's social mission and Unilever's corporate control has periodically become contentious. A major dispute followed the global company's July 2021 announcement that it would no longer sell products in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on the grounds that doing so was inconsistent with its values. The move triggered political criticism, consumer pressure, legal conflict, and disagreement with Israeli licensee Avi Zinger. In June 2022, an arrangement transferred or separated relevant Israeli manufacturing and distribution rights so that Zinger's business could continue selling the products across Israel, including settlements, independently of the global company's commercial and legal operations. The Israeli business has since pursued localized marketing and product activity, including limited holiday flavors, the return of the ice-cream sandwich, reintroduction of a cherry flavor, and consumer voting on discontinued flavors. Meanwhile, the global brand has remained known for outspoken statements on social and political issues. Reporting in 2025 described further tension between the founders and Unilever or its reorganized ice-cream structure, including a reported proposal to develop a peace-oriented flavor connected to Gaza and discussions about a possible founder-backed reacquisition. These reports should be treated as developments in an ongoing governance dispute rather than evidence that a sale or separation of Ben & Jerry's has been completed.

2025
Founders reportedly consider buying back the brand
[6]TheMarker report on a possible founder buybackthemarker.com
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield reportedly explore a founder-backed acquisition, while Unilever says Ben & Jerry's is not for sale.
2023
Israeli localized product launches
[7]Ben & Jerry's Israel S'mores launchice.co.il
The Israeli business launches a limited S'mores flavor and reintroduces its ice-cream sandwich format.
2022
Israeli business separates from global commercial operation
[2]Ynet report on the Israeli settlement-sales agreementynet.co.il
An agreement allows Avi Zinger's Israeli business to continue manufacturing and selling the brand throughout Israel, including settlements.
2021
Global settlement-policy announcement
[3]Ynet report on Ben & Jerry's political historyynet.co.il
The global organization announces that it will stop selling products in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
2020
Joins Stop Hate for Profit
[1]Ben & Jerry's Hebrew Wikipedia articlehe.wikipedia.org
The brand pauses paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram and calls for measures against the amplification of racism and hate.
2000
Acquired by Unilever
[5]Mako report on founder criticism of Unilevermako.co.il
Unilever acquires Ben & Jerry's in a transaction reported at $326 million, while the brand retains elements of independent social-purpose governance.
1984
Distribution dispute with Häagen-Dazs
[1]Ben & Jerry's Hebrew Wikipedia articlehe.wikipedia.org
Ben & Jerry's challenges distribution restrictions connected with Häagen-Dazs and uses a high-profile public campaign to support its position.
1978
Company founded in Vermont
[1]Ben & Jerry's Hebrew Wikipedia articlehe.wikipedia.org
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield open their first ice-cream shop in Burlington, Vermont.

Products and positioning

Premium, playful, mix-in-rich frozen desserts combined with an outspoken social-mission and community-activism identity.

Ice cream · 1978
Ben & Jerry's ice cream pints
The brand's core format is a packaged pint of dense, indulgent ice cream containing prominent mix-ins such as cookie dough, brownies, chocolate pieces, nuts, fruit, or confectionery inclusions. Flavor names and combinations are central to the product experience, and the portfolio includes both permanent and limited-edition recipes.
Plant-based frozen dessert
Non-dairy frozen desserts
Ben & Jerry's offers plant-based frozen desserts made with non-dairy bases for consumers avoiding conventional dairy. These products retain the brand's characteristic mix-in-heavy format and use flavor profiles adapted from its conventional ice-cream range.
Frozen novelty
Ice-cream sandwiches
The sandwich format places a cookie-dough-style ice-cream product between two chocolate-chip cookies. In Israel, the format was relaunched after reported consumer demand and positioned as a portable alternative to eating ice cream from a pint.
Frozen novelty
Ice pops and individual novelties
The brand also sells individually portioned frozen novelties, including pop-style products and multipacks. These formats extend the brand beyond the traditional pint and are designed for convenient consumption at home or away from a spoon and bowl.
Ice cream flavor
Chunky Monkey
A signature flavor associated with the brand's early product identity, combining banana ice cream with chocolate and nut inclusions. It exemplifies Ben & Jerry's preference for recognizable flavor names and substantial texture.
Ice cream flavor
Cherry Garcia
A cherry-oriented flavor created as a cultural collaboration associated with musician Jerry Garcia. It became one of the brand's best-known offerings and has been reintroduced in the Israeli market under a different local name.
Ice cream flavor
Phish Food
A flagship flavor associated with the band Phish, built around chocolate ice cream and confectionery-style inclusions. It represents the company's long-running practice of connecting products with music and popular culture.

Controversies

2025
Founders' allegations of censorship and governance conflict
Reports described criticism by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield that Unilever or the ice-cream business was restricting the brand's social and political expression. The reporting included a proposed peace-related flavor connected with Gaza and renewed calls for greater independence; the claims and negotiations remained contested.
Source
2022
Conflict between the independent board and Unilever
Ben & Jerry's independent board pursued legal action alleging that Unilever's handling of the Israeli business conflicted with the brand's social mission and governance arrangements. The dispute contributed to an agreement allowing the Israeli operation to continue independently.
Source
2021
Dispute over sales in Israeli settlements
The global brand announced that it would stop selling products in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, describing the policy as connected to its stated values. The decision prompted political condemnation, boycott threats, legal disputes, and conflict with the Israeli licensee and with Unilever's broader corporate interests.
Source
2021
Unilever tells Jewish organizations it does not support the boycott movement
Unilever chief executive Alan Jope wrote to major Jewish organizations that week, saying the company did not support the boycott movement and repudiated discrimination and intolerance.
Source
2021
Ben & Jerry's faces backlash over planned West Bank settlement sales halt
Ben & Jerry's faced criticism from American supporters of Israel after announcing it would no longer sell its products in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a boycott, and some supermarkets said they would stop carrying the brand. Critics described the decision as anti-Semitic or discriminatory; the article reports these as accusations, not findings.
Source
2020
Ben & Jerry's pauses Facebook advertising amid boycott
In June 2020, amid calls for a social-media advertising boycott, Unilever announced that it would pause advertising for the rest of the year. Ben & Jerry's, Patagonia and The North Face also said they would pause Facebook advertising. The campaign pressed Facebook to address hate speech and other harmful content. Ben & Jerry's, a Unilever brand, was among the companies that joined the pause in advertising on the platform.
Source

2023Three-person groups digital campaign
Israel
Ben & Jerry's Israel promoted multipacks of Peace Pop-style ice pops through a digital campaign featuring groups of three people with close personal relationships, emphasizing friendship, family, and shared consumption.
Outcome. The campaign supported the local launch of multipacks across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the company's website.
Source
2023Lag BaOmer S'mores flavor
Israel
A limited-edition marshmallow-and-cookie flavor was developed for the Israeli Lag BaOmer holiday and associated with the tradition of eating around a bonfire.
Outcome. The localized product created a seasonal Israeli offering and was distributed through supermarkets, convenience stores, and private retailers.
Source
2020Stop Hate for Profit
United States · International digital channels
Ben & Jerry's paused paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram and urged the platforms to address the spread and amplification of racism and hate.
Outcome. The action positioned the brand alongside a wider advertiser boycott and strengthened its public identity as an outspoken social-purpose company.
Source
2014Fight for the Reef
Australia
The brand partnered with WWF-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society on a campaign highlighting threats to coral reefs and marine ecosystems.
Outcome. The campaign broadened Ben & Jerry's environmental activism into marine conservation.
Source
2005Climate Change College
Europe · International
Ben & Jerry's worked with climate researcher Mark Cornelissen and WWF-linked partners on a youth-focused program intended to train participants in climate communication and campaigning.
Outcome. The initiative reinforced the brand's environmental positioning and connected product marketing with climate advocacy.
Source
1984What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?
United States
Ben & Jerry's used a public-relations and advertising campaign to challenge distribution restrictions affecting its products in Boston and to criticize the competitive conduct associated with Häagen-Dazs and its parent company.
Outcome. The campaign raised public attention around the distribution dispute and became an early example of the brand using activism-style communications in a commercial conflict.
Source
Consumer flavor-return vote
Israel
Ben & Jerry's Israel invited consumers to vote for a discontinued flavor to return, using a multi-stage process that narrowed a broad list to finalists before selecting the winning flavor.
Outcome. The initiative made product assortment decisions part of a customer-engagement program; the source does not establish the final winning flavor or a definitive year.
Source

Brand decisions

2025
Founders consider a possible buybackM&A
Background
Cohen and Greenfield reportedly discussed whether socially oriented investors could help them reacquire the brand as Unilever reorganized its ice-cream activities.
Action taken
The founders explored the possibility at a preliminary stage; no completed transaction was reported in the cited material.
Aftermath
Unilever stated that Ben & Jerry's was not for sale, leaving the ownership structure unchanged in the available reporting.
Source
2023
Launch localized Israeli seasonal and portable productsProduct launch
Background
The Israeli business used local demand and seasonal occasions to refresh its product range.
Action taken
It introduced a limited S'mores flavor for Lag BaOmer and brought back an ice-cream sandwich format.
Aftermath
The products expanded local occasions and formats beyond standard pints, with distribution through retail and convenience channels.
Source
2022
Resolve the Israeli distribution disputeStrategy
Background
The global policy created a conflict with Israeli manufacturer and licensee Avi Zinger, who opposed restricting sales by territory.
Action taken
Unilever and the Israeli operator reached an arrangement that allowed production and sales throughout Israel, including settlements, through an independent Israeli business.
Aftermath
The Israeli operation became commercially and legally separate from the global business for the relevant activities, while the wider governance dispute continued.
Source
2021
Stop sales in Israeli settlementsStrategy
Background
The global brand said that continuing commercial activity in Israeli settlements was inconsistent with its values.
Action taken
It announced that sales in Israeli settlements in the West Bank would end and that its Israeli license arrangement would not be renewed in its existing form.
Aftermath
The decision triggered political and legal pressure, disagreement with the Israeli operator, and a later arrangement under which the Israeli business continued independently.
Source
2020
Pause paid advertising on Facebook and InstagramStrategy
Background
The brand joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign amid criticism that social platforms were allowing hate and racism to spread.
Action taken
Ben & Jerry's suspended paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram and called for clearer platform action.
Aftermath
The move reinforced the brand's activist positioning and aligned it with participating advertisers and civil-society groups.
Source
2000
Sell the company to UnileverM&A
Background
Facing a consolidating ice-cream market and strategic pressure, Ben & Jerry's board examined a sale despite reservations associated with the founders.
Action taken
The company accepted Unilever's acquisition in a reported cash transaction valued at $326 million.
Aftermath
The brand gained global distribution and remained a distinct social-purpose brand within Unilever, while Cohen and Greenfield left day-to-day management.
Reported acquisition value. 326 million USD (2000)
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
Ben & Jerry's appoints three new independent directors to board[15]Ben & Jerry's 任命三名新的独立董事加入董事会foodbev.com
Ben & Jerry's appointed Nora Benavidez, Michael McAfee and Eva Schulte as I Class Directors, effective this month, to help safeguard and advance its three-part mission combining product quality, economic sustainability and social impact. The appointments follow the removal of three board members in December 2025 after parent company The Magnum Ice Cream Company established a nine-year term limit.
Unconfirmed
Ben & Jerry's board decides to withdraw products from Israeli settlements[13]Unilever tells Jewish organizations it does not support the boycott movementdailymail.com
Reported: 2021-07-29
Ben & Jerry's independent board decided to withdraw its products from freezers in Israeli settlements. The article describes the decision as prompting a dispute with Unilever; it does not specify when the withdrawal took effect.
2021-07-26
Unilever tells Jewish organizations it does not support the boycott movement[13]Unilever tells Jewish organizations it does not support the boycott movementdailymail.com
Reported: 2021-07-29
Unilever chief executive Alan Jope wrote to major Jewish organizations that week, saying the company did not support the boycott movement and repudiated discrimination and intolerance.
2021-07-19
Ben & Jerry's faces backlash over planned West Bank settlement sales halt[14]Ben & Jerry's faces backlash over planned West Bank settlement sales haltdailymail.com
Reported: 2021-07-20
Ben & Jerry's faced criticism from American supporters of Israel after announcing it would no longer sell its products in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a boycott, and some supermarkets said they would stop carrying the brand. Critics described the decision as anti-Semitic or discriminatory; the article reports these as accusations, not findings.
Unconfirmed
Ben & Jerry’s unveils Kaepernick billboard and mural[16]Ben & Jerry’s揭幕致敬考佩尼克的广告牌和壁画real923la.iheart.com
Ben & Jerry’s unveiled a billboard promoting its Change the Whirled flavor and a mural honoring Colin Kaepernick in Tampa, Florida. The company said the mural was part of an effort to support locally owned businesses and community organizations.
2020-06-27
Brands pause Facebook advertising amid boycott[12]Ben & Jerry's pauses Facebook advertising amid boycottdw.com
Reported: 2020-06-27
Unilever announced that it would pause advertising for the rest of the year, and Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and The North Face said they would pause Facebook advertising amid calls for a social-media ad boycott. The campaign pressed Facebook to address hate speech and other harmful content.
2020-06-16
Wowburger launches limited-edition Pride Sundae[17]Wowburger推出限量版骄傲主题圣代98fm.com
Reported: 2020-06-16
Wowburger launched a limited-edition Pride Sundae for Pride 2020, created in partnership with Ben & Jerry's. Wowburger said it would donate €1 to LGBT+ charity Belong To for every sundae sold; the sundae was available until June 30.
2020-05-23
Nike SB Chunky Dunky sneaker goes on sale[18]Nike SB Chunky Dunky运动鞋开售abc7ny.com
Reported: 2020-05-26
The Nike SB Chunky Dunky sneaker, inspired by Ben & Jerry’s, went on sale at select skate shops on Saturday and was released through the Nike SNKRS app on Tuesday, May 26.
Weekdays and relative dates follow the original report; their exact calendar dates have not been verified.
Unconfirmed
Ben & Jerry’s launches Cookie Dough Chunks[19]Ben & Jerry’s推出曲奇面团块bakeryinfo.co.uk
Reported: 2020-02-04
Ben & Jerry’s launched Fairtrade Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Chunks. The product was stated to be available in retailers across Europe from March.

Sources22 sources

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