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Unilever is reportedly cutting off millions of dollars in funding to the Ben & Jerry’s charitable foundation after it refused to provide audit documents about donations to pro-Palestinian groups, escalating an internal dispute between a corporate parent and its left-leaning subsidiary.
Peter ter Kulve, head of Unilever’s ice cream division, informed Ben & Jerry’s executives via email that the foundation’s trustees “have continued to resist basic oversight” and are not cooperating with requests from corporate auditors, according to the news site Semafor.
“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 obtained by Semafor.
The audit process is part of Unilever’s ongoing effort to spin off its ice cream business, which includes the famously left-leaning Vermont-based brand.
The Ben & Jerry’s foundation distributed more than $5 million of Unilever’s funds in 2022, mostly to progressive organizations.
The foundation has operated under Unilever’s ownership since the multinational acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.
Since then, the company’s outspoken political stances have frequently clashed with its corporate parent’s broader business objectives.
The audit has become a flashpoint in the growing dispute between Unilever and the foundation. According to Semafor, the probe into the foundation’s activities has revealed a deeper turf war over the scope and nature of its charitable giving.
Ter Kulve told executives that Unilever and the future independent Ben & Jerry’s management team had made repeated efforts to address the foundation’s concerns. These included changing the audit firm and pledging to keep certain grantee information 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 wrote. “We remain committed to that mission.”
Despite these assurances, the dispute has continued to escalate.
Representatives for Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s did not respond to a request for comment.
The conflict between the British conglomerate — specializing in food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products — and the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation comes amid the broader plan to spin off its ice cream division, which it announced last year.
The audit of the foundation was initiated as part of that process. However, what began as a standard financial review has morphed into a highly charged confrontation over governance, transparency, and political values.
According to the foundation’s trustees, Unilever is using the corporate restructuring process as an excuse to undermine the foundation’s philanthropic work.
The origins of the rift trace back at least to 2021, when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell its products in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.
Unilever responded by selling the Ben & Jerry’s license for the region, a move that sparked further backlash from the brand’s independent board of directors.
In November, Ben & Jerry’s independent directors filed a lawsuit against Unilever, accusing the parent company of silencing the ice cream maker’s public statements in support of Palestinian refugees.
