Ben & Jerry’s enforces term limits, removes three board members

USA – Ben & Jerry’s, the iconic Vermont-based ice cream company, has stated that it will remove three of its independent board members following the implementation of newly enforced term limits.

The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) said these changes aim to ‘align principles and policies’ across the business, reaffirm the responsibilities of the board and ‘enhance the brand’s historical social mission and safeguard its integrity’.

This will include establishing a nine-year term limit for board members, with any director who has served longer than this period becoming ineligible for annual re-election in 2026.

TMICC confirmed that three directors in total have been notified of their ineligibility to serve on the board. This includes chair Anuradha Mittal, who joined the board in 2007 and has served as chair since 2018.

Last month, it was revealed that TMICC said Mittal “no longer meets the criteria” to serve, following an internal investigation conducted by external advisors.

This came amid the longstanding row between Ben & Jerry’s’ co-founders and its parent company, with the dispute centering around the brand’s social mission.

According to BBC News, co-founder Cohen described the latest move to remove Mittal and two other board members, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson, as a “blatant power grab designed to strip the board of legal authority and independence”.

“Anuradha Mittal, Daryn Dodson and Jennifer Henderson have served this company with integrity and courage. Over many years, they helped the board make bold, often difficult decisions to uphold Ben & Jerry’s social mission,” he added.

Commenting on the changes, Jochanan Senf, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, said: “The Ben & Jerry’s merger agreement and the role of the board is unique in the business world, and it’s crucial to the long-term future of the Ben & Jerry’s three-part mission”.

Ben & Jerry’s, founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in 1978, was acquired by Unilever for $326 million in 2000. It is now owned by Unilever’s newly spun-off ice cream business, TMICC, which completed its demerger from the food and beverage giant on 6 December 2025.

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