Ben & Jerry’s Sues Parent Unilever to Block Sale of Israeli Business

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is seen on display in a store in Manhattan, New York City, March 24. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ben & Jerry’s on Tuesday sued its parent Unilever to block the sale of its Israeli business to a local licensee, saying it was inconsistent with its values to sell its ice cream in Yehudah and Shomron.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the sale announced on June 29 threatened to undermine the integrity of the Ben & Jerry’s brand, which Ben & Jerry’s board retained independence to protect when Unilever acquired the company in 2000.

An injunction against transferring the business and related trademarks to Avi Zinger, who runs American Quality Products Ltd, was essential to “protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry’s has spent decades building,” the complaint said.

Ben & Jerry’s said its board voted 5-2 to sue, with the two Unilever appointees dissenting.

Unilever, in a statement, said it does not discuss pending litigation, but that it had the right to sell the disputed business and the transaction had already closed.

“It’s a done deal,” Zinger’s lawyer Alyza Lewin said in a separate statement. The sale resolved Zinger’s own lawsuit in March against Ben & Jerry’s for refusing to renew his license.

The dispute highlights challenges facing consumer brands taking a stand on Jewish communities in Yehudah and Shomron.

Last July, Ben & Jerry’s said it would end sales in Yehudah and Shomron and parts of East Yerushalayim, and sever its three-decade relationship with Zinger.

Israel condemned the move, and some Jewish groups accused Ben & Jerry’s of anti-Semitism. Some investors, including at least seven U.S. states, divested their Unilever holdings.

Unilever has more than 400 brands including Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Knorr soup and Vaseline skin lotion.

Ben & Jerry’s was founded in a renovated gas station in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

No longer involved in Ben & Jerry’s operations, they wrote in the New York Times last July that they supported Israel but opposed its “illegal occupation” of Yehudah and Shomron.

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