The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream Ben Cohen has accused corporate America of retreating from efforts to boost diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and of being guilty of “appeasement” that “just justifies bullies” at a time when consumers cared more than ever about corporate “purpose”, the entrepreneur told the Financial Times in an interview.
The likes of McDonald’s, Walt Disney, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have scaled back diversity targets or policies under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who is waging war on “illegal and immoral” DEI programmes. Cohen said that the backtracking was indicative that while companies were notionally adhering to DEI they “didn’t really believe in it”.
He claimed that the whole food system has been taken over by corporate interests.
Mantra
Ben & Jerry’s was an early exemplar of valued-based capitalism, where businesses aim to do good as well as make a profit. It was also once the mantra of its parent company, Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group which bought the Vermont-based ice cream 25 years ago. Cohen and Greenfield now want to buy back the brand.
Unilever is spinning off its ice cream division, which also includes Magnum, Wall’s and HB, into a separate listed entity. Ben & Jerry’s is suing Unilever for allegedly trying to silence its activism on Gaza. Last week, they called Israel’s actions in the occupied territory genocide.
Pictured above is Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen being arrested at the US Senate last month for disrupting proceedings in protest at the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Photo: Al Jazeera
