Unilever to spin off ice cream holdings including Ben & Jerry’s

March 25, 2024 | By Lisa Scagliotti

An announcement from London last week sent ripples through the global ice cream industry all the way to Vermont and the headquarters of Ben & Jerry’s. 

The multi-national Unilever corporation announced on March 19 that it will divest of its ice cream holdings that include Ben & Jerry’s as well as its global Wall’s and Magnum ice cream brands. 

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in Waterbury is one of Vermont’s most popular tourist destinations. File photo by Lisa Scagliotti

Along the way, Unilever’s restructuring will shed some 7,500 jobs, although it’s not clear exactly where those cuts will be made. Earlier this month, Ben & Jerry’s confirmed to VTDigger that there had been seven layoffs recently at its Vermont headquarters. It was not clear if those cuts were connected with the Unilever announcement. 

The move, according to the corporate communication, is designed for Unilever to lean into its “Growth Action Plan” announced late last year to “become a simpler, more focused company,” according to the corporate announcement of the move. 

“Under the Growth Action Plan we have committed to do fewer things, better, and with greater impact,” said Unilever Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher.

With 138,000 employees worldwide, Unilever is comprised of a number of top consumer brands and is the world’s largest producer of soap products such as Axe, Dove, Lifebuoy, alongside other market staples such as Knorr, Hellmann’s and Seventh Generation. In addition to Ben & Jerry’s, Unilever ice cream brands in American supermarkets include Breyers, Klondike and Popsicle.  

“Ice Cream has a very different operating model, and as a result the Board has decided that the separation of Ice Cream best serves the future growth of both Ice Cream and Unilever,” the company said.

Its other main divisions – beauty and well-being, personal care, home care, and nutrition – share similar supply routes, manufacturing and distribution systems, the company explained.  

Unilever characterized the move as one that will make its ice cream companies more profitable going forward as well. “The Unilever Board is confident that the future growth potential of Ice Cream will be better delivered under a different ownership structure,” it said, noting that the ice cream businesses share a unique supply chain, require handling of frozen products, have similar seasonal trends and overall are more capital intense. Together, Unilever’s ice cream brands in 2023 were an $8.5 billion business, Unilever said. 

Unilever did not offer specific details on how the ice cream operations that it plans to “separate” will be structured going forward other than to describe how they would make shared efficiencies, optimize manufacturing and logistics networks, refine worldwide distribution channels, and make investments in innovation, the company noted. 

The process is expected to unfold over nearly two years, with it completed by the end of 2025, the company said. “Further information will be provided in due course,” the announcement states.  

Impacts to Vermont operation unknown

At Ben & Jerry’s corporate headquarters in South Burlington, officials acknowledged the announcement but did not elaborate on the impact it might have on operations here. Company spokesman Sean Greenwood shared a statement, saying there were no additional details to offer at this time. 

“We are aware that Unilever has announced plans to separate its ice cream business,” the company said. 

“Ben & Jerry’s has been owned by Unilever for the last 24 years and this represents a significant change for us. However, regardless of any new ownership structure, Ben & Jerry’s remains committed to advancing our three-part mission and is well-positioned to continue to grow our global company.”

The three parts are the Vermont-grown company’s emphasis on its products, economics and social causes. Since it was founded in 1978, the company has stressed using natural ingredients using business practices that protect the environment. Its economics hinge on sustainability with a commitment to promoting employee advancement. Ben & Jerry’s stands out among other ice cream makers with its high-profile social justice mission that includes corporate philanthropy and activism on a wide range of social, environmental and progressive political issues. 

Ben & Jerry’s started in Burlington with founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opening their first scoop shop in a former gas station. Waterbury is home to the company’s first factory that’s one of the area’s largest employers; its factory tours and visitor center are one of the state’s largest tourist destinations. It operates a much larger manufacturing plant in St. Albans.

Last summer, Greenwood said the company employs about 1,000 workers in Vermont with the Waterbury plant accounting for about 100 of those jobs. 

Unilever acquired the company in 2000 for $326 million. The acquisition kept Ben & Jerry’s a wholly owned subsidiary with its own board of directors remaining independent. That board also shared a statement following the Unilever announcement hinting that the new corporate structure may not result in dramatic changes that customers or even employees will notice. 

“The Independent Board has ensured that Ben & Jerry’s has remained on the vanguard of a variety of social issues from Black Lives Matter to LGBTQ+ rights, continues to drive impact in its supply chain through values-led sourcing, and remains committed to its unique three-part mission across the day-to-day operations of the business, all while growing Ben & Jerry’s into a global billion-dollar brand,” the statement says. “Unilever’s announcement of its intention to create a standalone ice cream business, including Ben & Jerry’s, does not change the terms of the merger agreement, which exists in perpetuity regardless of ownership structure.”

In the corporate announcement, Unilever’s board chair Ian Meakins framed the shift as one that will result in higher profits for its core businesses as well as more growth for the ice cream operations: “The separation of Ice Cream and the delivery of the productivity programme will help create a simpler, more focused, and higher performing Unilever. It will also create a world-leading ice cream business, with strong growth prospects and an exciting future as a standalone business.”