20 Sept 2022, Samaria: If you’re in Samaria while Jewish, then you don’t get any ice cream.
That’s the message from Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Living here in Samaria, I must say, it sure is nice to have the freedom to choose Ben & Jerry’s branded flavors in the local supermarket from time to time.
Even though Ben & Jerry sold their company to Unilever, they retained control of the brand’s “social mission,” and on that basis, they sought to manipulate Unilever to pull the brand license from the Israeli company which holds the rights to produce the ice cream here.
However, Unilever said this is not social, but an operational issue, and Unilever has completed the sale of the rights, in Israel. So now the courts will have to decide.
Ben & Jerry’s was a Jewish American company until its sale to Unilever, and apparently, Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield, and their board, wish to use their brand name to protest.
In Israel, the brand is licensed, manufactured with Israeli ingredients, sold and distributed by a Jewish Israeli small business owner. That is, unless Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in the USA get their way.