By Natasha Khan

Unilever has appointed a new CEO for Ben & Jerry's, continuing a dispute with the ice-cream brand's independent board.

Jochanan Senf, a longtime Unilever executive who previously served as managing director of Ben & Jerry's Europe business, will start in the new role this month.

Unilever is embroiled in a legal fight with Ben & Jerry's independent social-mission board over issues including the removal of the brand's previous chief executive, David Stever. The board in a March legal filing accused Unilever of ousting Stever because he had defended the brand's social-activism efforts.

In an unusual provision of the acquisition agreement Unilever struck with Ben & Jerry's more than two decades ago, the brand's independent board retains decision-making about its social mission and marketing. The board and Unilever have fought bitterly for years over the brand's social activism -- particularly its public stances on Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The board wasn't given the opportunity to interview candidates for Stever's successor and was excluded from the appointment process at multiple stages, according to a person familiar with the board's involvement.

In a memo to staff Thursday announcing Senf's appointment, the leader of Unilever's ice-cream unit, Peter ter Kulve, said the company "took every step to collaborate in good faith" with the board's appointment committee. "The response from the Independent Board was to decline our requests, delay our timing and/or threaten litigation."

Unilever is preparing to spin off its ice-cream unit, the Magnum Ice Cream Company, later this year.

Write to Natasha Khan at natasha.khan@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 10, 2025 18:21 ET (22:21 GMT)

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