Ben & Jerry’s on Tuesday sued its parent firm, Unilever PLC, to block the sale of its Israeli business to a local licensee, saying it was inconsistent with its values to sell its ice cream in the occupied West Bank.
The complaint filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, New York, said the sale announced on Wednesday last week threatened to undermine the integrity of the brand, over which Ben & Jerry’s board retained independence when Unilever acquired the firm in 2000.
The injunction is seeking to block the transfer of the business and related trademarks to American Quality Products Ltd CEO Avi Zinger to “protect the brand and social integrity Ben & Jerry’s has spent decades building,” the complaint said.
Photo: REUTERS
Ben & Jerry’s said its board voted five to two to sue, with the two Unilever appointees dissenting.
Unilever said in a statement that it does not discuss pending litigation, but that it had the right to sell the disputed business, adding that the transaction had closed.
“It’s a done deal,” Zinger’s lawyer, Alyza Lewin, said in a separate statement.
The sale resolved Zinger’s own lawsuit filed in March against Ben & Jerry’s for refusing to renew his license.
The dispute highlights challenges facing consumer brands taking a stand on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Most countries consider the settlements illegal.
In April 2019, Airbnb Inc reversed a five-month-old decision to stop listing properties in the settlements.
In July last year, Ben & Jerry’s said it would end sales in the occupied West Bank and parts of East Jerusalem, and sever its three-decade relationship with Zinger.
Israel condemned the move, and some Jewish groups accused Ben & Jerry’s of anti-Semitism.
Some investors, including at least seven US states, divested their Unilever holdings.
Ben & Jerry’s founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, who are no longer involved in its operations, in July last year wrote in the New York Times that they supported Israel, but opposed its “illegal occupation” of the West Bank.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
RSS