Unilever to Put Ben & Jerry’s in Separate Unit Under Restructuring

Unilever announced a restructuring of their company on January 25, which will include putting Ben & Jerry’s in a separate standalone unit.

In a press release, the corporate giant announced they would be moving away from their “matrix structure” and will instead separate their businesses into five divisions: ice cream, nutrition, personal care, home care and beauty & well-being. Each division “will be fully responsible and accountable for their strategy, growth, and profit delivery globally,” per the press release. Unilever will also be cutting 1,500 jobs as part of the restructuring overhaul, although factory workers will not be impacted by the changes.

“Our new organizational model has been developed over the last year and is designed to continue the step-up we are seeing in the performance of our business,” Unilever CEO Alan Jope said in a statement. “Moving to five category-focused Business Groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery. Growth remains our top priority and these changes will underpin our pursuit of this.”

In July, Ben & Jerry’s announced that they would be ending their relationship with their licensee in Israel because it operated in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and will conduct business elsewhere in Israel. However, the head of Ben & Jerry’s Independent Board claimed that Unilever inserted in the statement about operating elsewhere in Israel and Ben & Jerry’s never signed off on it.

Since Ben & Jerry’s announced their boycott, Unilever’s stock declined by 20.7%, posting losses of around $26 billion, Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported on January 20. JNS noted that various state anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) laws have been enforced against Unilever over the Ben & Jerry’s, though the JNS article acknowledged that there were “numerous factors” behind Unilever’s losses.

Prior to the January 25 announcement, Unilever had announced they were looking “to offload low-growth brands and push further into the consumer health and hygiene market,” City A.M. reported. Various lawyers have told The Sunday Telegraph that it might be difficult for Unilever to sell Ben & Jerry’s because under their contract, Unilever cannot overrule any of Ben & Jerry’s political statements and any potential buyer would inherit that arrangement.