Ben & Jerry’s co-founder launches ‘Peace for Palestine’ ice cream after Unilever blocks flavour
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Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen has revealed that the decision by parent company Unilever to block the launch of a new flavour intended to show solidarity with Palestine has deepened a long-standing fault line between activism and corporate control.
According to Cohen, he will proceed independently with the flavour via his personal venture, Ben’s Best, citing Unilever’s refusal to permit the original brand’s engagement in certain “social mission” initiatives.
The proposed flavour is a watermelon-flavoured sorbet, its colour palette—red, green, black, and white—intentionally echoing the Palestinian flag, Cohen explains in a video posted on Instagram.
He stated: “I’m making a watermelon-flavoured ice cream that calls for permanent peace in Palestine and for repairing the damage that was done there.”
This development occurs against the backdrop of a fraught history: Ben & Jerry’s pulled out of sales in Israeli-occupied territories in 2021, sparking legal and commercial entanglements which led Unilever to divest the brand’s Israeli operations to a local licensee. Cohen claims that Unilever and the soon-to-be-split ice cream division Magnum have unlawfully prevented Ben & Jerry’s from fulfilling its founding values.
In his view, the activation of the watermelon sorbet through Ben’s Best is a way to reset the mission that was sidelined. Whilst the original brand remains under Unilever’s corporate umbrella, Cohen’s independent path signals an intensifying dispute over how far an activist-oriented brand can tread within the constraints of a multinational parent.
Whether the new flavour will gain widespread distribution—or how Unilever or the broader market will respond—remains uncertain. What is clear: the moment highlights how ice cream, branding, and global politics are now deeply intertwined.
