Ben & Jerry’s said its parent, Unilever (ULVR.L), decided to oust the ice cream maker’s chief executive, Dave Stever, escalating a battle over the subsidiary’s independence on social policy issues.
In a Tuesday night filing in Manhattan federal court, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever advised on March 3 it was removing Stever without consulting directors because of his commitment to the ice cream maker’s social mission and brand integrity, not because of concerns about his job performance.
It said Unilever chastised Stever in a January performance review for “repeatedly acquiescing” to Ben & Jerry’s promotion of social goals, and has repeatedly warned personnel not to defy its efforts to “silence the social mission.”
Ben & Jerry’s also said Unilever’s attacks on its social mission have reached “new levels of oppressiveness.”
Look it’s amazing the company last this long. Just stop buying it and got to your local gelato place after checking Facebook to make sure you’re not supporting a neo Nazi.
Thinking it would go any other way is extreme naïveté. They’re not. They might have ‘wanted’ to have their ice cream and eat it too, but they wanted the money more. 🤷♂️
I don’t remember which company it is, but a CEO with socially progressive views was appointed by shareholders. He believes that you can be ethical and still run a multibillion company. After a year, he was replaced. It wasn’t explicitly mentioned but we know why he was replaced.
Unless you own the company yourself, I think you could be ethical. But more cut throat rivals would undermine you, leaving you with no choice but to either let your company be bought because you simply cannot compete, or you could keep up with the Joneses and follow along with cut throat tactics to remain competitive.
The third option though is if you are comfortable enough with what you are earning that you don’t feel the need to compete and expand. This is what many family-owned Japanese businesses do. Those businesses have been passed down from generation to generation stretching back hundreds of years. A lot of said businesses explain they do not want to expand because it is risky and are happy enough with their enterprise.
Why these companies keep selling themselves to giant corporate overlords I’ll never understand.
$$$$$$$
Because somebody on the top found an opportunity to make money on it. That’s how the corpo world works
Unilever plans to spin off Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Magnum and other ice cream brands later this year.
What’s even the point of getting rid of their CEO then?
Sometimes pettiness is all they need. When THQ went bankrupt, Ubisoft bought their studio that hired Patrice Désilets (creator of assassin’s Creed) just so they could shut down his new project and fire him again.
SR3 still has the best overall combination of character customization, stat advancement and urban open world. Its not even close to the best at any single one of them but its still the only game that actually pulls off all 3 well. What happened to that series post bankruptcy is a tragedy.
What did you think would happen when you sold out!?
One supposes they wanted to get the fat stacks but maintain control via PR.
Unfortunately for them, PR has a dollar value to corporations, and once the cost of PR exceeds its value, it is no longer an effective barrier to action.
Will be interesting to see if it works out for them like it did for Target. There’s a growing list of companies that progressive Americans will no longer support. B&J could easily join that list.
If you wanted to retain control, you should never have sold it to Unilever.
and has repeatedly warned personnel not to defy its efforts to “silence the social mission.”
I can’t imagine ever saying anything like that. I often think bad people think they’re the good guys in their own eyes but…damn…that’s just plain evil.
At a certain point you notice that large swathes of people keep eventually deciding to use skulls as political symbols. And epistemology of pain has defined the modern right wing since it was called the alt right. They know what they intend, they just believe that the evil can be scrubbed by history.
I often think there should be one boardmember whose entire reason for being there is to say “hey that sounds like something a supervillain would do/say” when shit like this gets proposed.
They employ people for that very reason. It’s called Public Relations. When they hear something that sounds villainous, their job is to sanitize the message before it’s sent out to the public.
But, that’s only during a neoliberal zeitgeist where companies implement half-assed programs like DEI, pink and rainbow washing advertising, etc. because it’s the mainstream. As soon as Trump took office, they shifted their strategy, which includes their public relations. They ditched the flowery language and diversity campaigns because they don’t feel they need to appeal to the consumer anymore. We are a captive consumer now.
Except for Target. They FAFO.
Align with the devil…
One capitalism rock please.
B&J’s enshitified a while ago. There are better ice creams.
They have some of the best vegan icecreams. I wish there were some good alternatives that I can get here.
If it’s not cream (as in dairy) then it’s not icecream. It’s frozen dessert.
Gr8 b8 m8.
Cream as in creamy.
Get over it.
They have some of the best vegan icecreams.
🤢
So, you do realize that there are people who can’t have dairy, right? And those people might still want ice cream.
Yeah, that sucks. It doesn’t make vegan ice cream good though.
Then don’t eat it? What the fuck is your problem outside of “it’s vegan”?
I imagine if those people had a choice, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream.
I imagine someone with a dairy allergy would be more appreciative of alternative options than someone who clearly doesn’t need to worry about it.
It’s not a team sport, it’s fucking ice cream. Get over it.
Then you don’t have a great imagination.
So if people can’t have dairy, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream? That seems like a wrong statement.
There are many people who loved dairy icecream before going vegan, becoming lactose intolerant or even realizing they are lactose intolerant. Why would you not enjoy something that tastes 99% the same?
So if people can’t have dairy, they also wouldn’t choose vegan ice cream? That seems like a wrong statement.
Yeah, I agree. Why did you make that statement?
What the hell are you on about?
You imagine wrong. If I know a vegan ice cream has good flavor and texture, I’ll opt for it over dairy ice cream. A delicious dessert that doesn’t give me room-clearing farts? Yes, please!
Vegan ice cream has fiber. Coconut ice cream, unless it’s vanilla, tastes exactly the same as regular ice cream. Except it has a smaller carbon footprint and some actual nutrition. It’s not good for you of course, but the fiber makes it so it’s actually filling. And most modern diets have fiber deficiencies.
Can you recommend a specific one? I’m absolutely certain that I’ll prefer real ice cream, but I’ve never tried vegan ice cream, and maybe someday I will.
Ben&Jerry’s. They have lots of flavor options, pick what you like!
And what’s your mythical third option then?
Sorbet is excellent.
They’re very good.
Name names. I want the lowdown on underappreciated ice cream.
Tillamook. Farmer owned Co-op. Great ice cream, can find at any grocery store.
My local Kroger-subsidiary markets carry Tillamook. It’s very good stuff.
So much guar gum :(
This is the best answer and it’s not close. Their strawberry ice cream is mind blowing. It’s so fucking creamy.
Oooh I like their cheese, I’ll look for the ice cream!
Fighting the good fight elbow deep in a tub of off brand ice cream.
I’M DOING MY PART!
Jude’s, especially their plant based ones.
Not OP. But I’ve had good luck trying ice creams from local dairy’s. Not sure where you’re located.
Great point.
Salt & Straw, Palo Alto comes to mind in California (SF Bay)
Wow incredible, vegan or moo
Edit:
Independent creameries are still a thing in a lot of places. Also, look for local dairy farms, they will often have a creamery that sells ice cream and often cheese and other products.
Was going to suggest Talenti, but just looked it up and they are also Unilever. It comes in a cool jar though…
Ruby Jewel does still seem to be owned by the lady that started the company after winning a food competition twenty years ago. And it’s available nation wide (US) as of three years ago.
Also Strauss Organic is amazing, but I don’t know how far they are distributed, they are local to me. Edit: Their ice cream is available across the US.
Ok, this is a dangerous idea. Make your own.
You get an ice cream maker/mixer that turns a frozen bowl.
In a separate bowl mix 1 quart of light cream, 1 can of condensed milk, 1/2 cup of sugar as the base (add vanilla for vanilla flavor, melt some real chocolate with enough cream that it’s liquid for chocolate, etc, play with it, nothing solid yet)
Pour half into your mixer, let it go for 28mins, add any solids you want (if you’re planning to add a lot, you could pour less base in). 2 more min, scope it out into some containers. Repeat for the rest of the base, you can do different flavors/mix ins if you want).
My bowls are good for 2 batches before they don’t freeze enough. If you need more, you can get and freeze more bowls, or just make batches up to like every other day or so, as the bowls need to freeze.
My YouTube was blowing up with DIY ice cream videos with some expensive device ninja makes a week or two ago. It was really annoying. I don’t know what made the algorithm think I wanted to see a bunch of disgusting thumbnails of people cramming slop into their mouths but if you’re interested there’s a ton of suggestions on there!
This is going to be very expensive and time consuming for a lot of people.
Same goes with brewing your own beer or making your own wine. It can’t compete with the cost at scale.
One thing I’ve noticed since coming to Lemmy from Reddit. Damn if the most obnoxious, time intensive, expensive solutions aren’t the most upvoted like I actually am not living paycheck to paycheck and just trying to get my dopamine hit.
Also, not everyone has time for stuff like this. Making your own pickles/ice cream/beef jerky/beer/whatever is a luxury. So is having a vegetable garden or whatever other hipster idea people suggest in this vein. Like, I do a lot of those things, because I have a house (because space is often a requirement) and I work from home so I have time. But most people aren’t that fortunate and what free time they have should be spent on doing things they find fun.
Jerky isn’t too bad. Mostly you’re waiting on it to marinade or waiting on it to dry out. Very minimal actual work.
Space is another thing to consider.
Oh wait that was mentioned already. But yeah in a 1 bedroom apartment, it’s not easy to do all this stuff yourself. I don’t have a spare closet to install my own beer brewery and smoking case and jerky dryer.
Oh, I just make jerky in the stove so there wasn’t really any extra space concerns for me. I live in a small space as well.
It’s a lot. But I found a recipe with electric beaters, sweetened condensed milk, half n half, vanilla. I can manage that plus it’s a small enough batch the extra pounds won’t be much.
Me too!
Not OP. But I’ve had good luck trying ice creams from local dairy’s. Not sure where you’re located.
Not near any. I could make my own. I’ll have to look up homemade no churn.
Do you have a stand mixer?
This sounds like a pain but it’s much easier than you think and it actually makes superior ice cream than if you went and got a proper ice cream maker and churned it:
Make any reasonable ice cream base. Custard basically. If you have a sous vide stick thing they make this remarkably simple (basically just dump it all in a bag or mason jar, put in the heated bath, wait). If not the stove top way is obviously totally fine, slightly less smooth unless you’re super good at temp control.
500g whole milk 500g heavy cream 200g sugar 210g egg yolk Vanilla bean paste or actual beans (if you want to spend the money), as much as you want really
I do the sous vide which is blend all that, cook 185F for 1hr, chill at least 8hrs, sieve. This could be done on stovetop though.
This bit is all what you’d have to do for any ice cream regardless of how you churn. And again that’s just an example recipe. You can use whatever. Though keep in mind mix ins come later. If you want like chocolate chip cookie dough with a vanilla base you do the above and at the very end mix in chocolate chips and cookie dough chunks. Or a swirl, or whatever
——-
Churning:
Get some dry ice. This is where it sounds like a pain. But it’s actually really simple to get usually. Many grocery stores carry it and if not you can often find it at beverage shops or you may have an ice shop. It’s dirt cheap. Try to buy pellets if you can but if you can’t it’s not the end of the world
Put the dry ice in a clean apron and fold the apron over it. (Don’t touch it, it’s so cold it hurts. It won’t harm you if you touch it for a second but if you grab it it can actually do damage). Smash the shit out of it until it’s a powder. Run this through a large sieve, big chunks are bad.
Now you’re ready for the endgame:
Get your stand mixer. Put on the paddle. Put the base in and start mixing on medium ish. Start dumping in the sandy dry ice. Ice cream will begin forming basically immediately. Let it churn a few seconds, add some more, let it churn, add some more, etc. it won’t take long, like a minute or two.
It’ll be a bit soft. Put it in a container and put it in the freezer to firm up. This lets you ensure the dry ice is fully sublimated (you def don’t want to eat it) and if you eat it immediately the ice cream will be slightly carbonated (you may desire this though, the effect can be cool, like fizzy soft serve. If you’re very confident you’ve done a good job getting the dry ice to a small sandy texture it should be safe to eat. Chunks are dangerous!!)
——
Why this is superior: ice creams texture is determined by the size of the ice crystals formed when freezing the ice cream. The slower the freezing process the larger the crystals and the easier it is for you to perceive them on your tongue. They feel more gritty. The best way to do this is with liquid nitrogen, which is -196F. However, while you can get this at welding shops this needs specialized equipment to transport and it can be dangerous to handle. Dry ice is -109F which is close enough. much easier to obtain, transport, and handle safely.
Additionally the less time you spend mixing the more rich the ice cream tastes because you are not whipping air into it (this is called “overrun”). This is how low calorie ice creams like halo top work. They do cut cane sugar with sugar alcohol and artificial sweeteners of course but they also whip a ton of air into the ice cream so it’s simply less dense.
Again, this sounds like a total pain but realistically it’s:
You make ice cream base (would have to do this anyway
You source dry ice (this can be a pain, depending on where you live) and you smash the shit out of it
You churn in a stand mixer with the dust (which ideally you would make right now. Dry ice “melts”/sublimates in your freezer. It won’t keep and keeping it in the larger form as long as possible reduces waste)
Done
Thank you for taking all that time. It’s a bit much for me but I did find a 3 ingredient, electric beater recipe on All Recipes!
That’s unfortunate! I’m fortunate that there are 2-3 dairy’s within a couple hours whose ice cream are in local stores. I’ve also found some at farmers markets. You might find a real cheap second hand ice cream maker which can make the process a breeze. I love making homemade.
We used to have creameries nearby. Big milk took over and they disappeared. We used to make ice cream when people actually had time off together and had ice cream makers. It would be more than I need and if I’m honest, probably more than my waistband needs. That’s a great idea for roommates or families with kids! Thanks for bringing it up, happy memories.
I relate to that more than I’d like to admit. Hopefully someone finds the info useful! I think we are all closer to only having those memories of good times than most want to admit. All things considered.
Uh Hu-Vee gallon bucket of french vanilla?
It would be nice to understand what these social policies are otherwise this means nothing.
if you read the article
It said Unilever blocked it in February from honoring Black History Month, and more recently from supporting the release from detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. legal permanent resident active in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and who the Trump administration wants to deport.
Well you’re supposed to just know that it means diversity, anti-war, societal health…anything that isn’t pushing towards total wealth concentration and power of the elite just be eliminated. It’s literally the machine from fern gully
If they’re against wealth consolidation, why did they willingly come under a larger corporation? Hypocrites and sellouts.
Tale as old as time. Money, lots of money, and promises about people not being affected, the company not changing, etc. 99% of the time it’s bs.
The one I know is their pro-Palestinian position. They tried to divest from Israeli settlements and in return Unilever created another subsidiary to handle sales in Israel IIRC.
🙄 because it was bound to turn out differently. Please.
