Unilever cuts off funding for Ben & Jerry's foundation amid tensions over Gaza, audit
Peter ter Kulve, who runs Unilever's ice cream business, told Ben & Jerry's executives in an email that the foundation's trustees 'have continued to resist basic oversight' and are not cooperating with requests from corporate auditors ahead of the ice cream business' spinoff from Unilever. The probe into the foundation began in part because of its giving to pro-Palestinian organizations, Semafor reported earlier this year.
'It represents a marked departure from the norms of charitable organizations, for whom transparency is typically a bedrock operating principle,' ter Kulve wrote in the email, which was seen by Semafor.
The Ben & Jerry's foundation distributed more than $5 million of Unilever's money in 2022, to mostly progressive organizations, and has done so ever since the quirky, left-leaning Vermont creamery was acquired by the corporate giant in 2000. Since then, Ben & Jerry's politics have been a headache for its parent, and the tensions between the two have grown more acute as the business community got swept into the culture wars — first pulled to the left in the mid-2010s, then retreating rightward under the second Trump administration.
Ter Kulve wrote that management of the soon-to-be standalone ice cream company had met with foundation trustees and 'consistently sought to accommodate concerns' they raised, including switching audit firms and promising to keep certain information about grantees private.
'The Foundation is a powerful force for good and has played a meaningful role in advancing the Ben & Jerry's social mission,' ter Kulve told executives. 'We remain committed to that mission.'
Representatives for Unilever and Ben & Jerry's did not respond to a request for comment. A lawyer for the foundation's trustees didn't immediately comment.
Unilever decided to spin off its ice cream business last year. The audit of Ben and Jerry's foundation was part of that process. But it has devolved into a turf war between Unilever and the foundation, whose trustees claim their parent company is using the transaction as a pretense to attack its charitable giving.
The troubles date back to at least 2021, when Ben & Jerry's said it would stop selling its products in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. Unilever sold the regional Ben & Jerry's license in response.
Ben & Jerry's independent directors sued Unilever in November, accusing their parent company of silencing the ice cream maker's statements in support of Palestinian refugees. Other court documents allege that Unilever muzzled Ben & Jerry's social media posts that mentioned President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Nelson Peltz, the billionaire investor and Unilever director who introduced the president to Musk.
Activist Robbie Starbuck told Semafor earlier this year he was planning a lobbying group to pressure corporate America to drop DEI targets, to prevent 'a situation where we have totally parallel economies,' with blue brands and red brands, because it's 'going to hurt our economy.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
ACHV: Achieve's Busy Day
By John Vandermosten, CFA NASDAQ:ACHV READ THE FULL ACHV RESEARCH REPORT Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV) posted a flurry of press releases last week announcing the submission of its new drug application (NDA), a partnership with Omnicom for cytisinicline commercialization, a proposed public offering and the pricing of the offering. The capital raise was closed on June 30th. This is the culmination of more than a decade of work developing cytisinicline for smoking cessation. Now that the development phase of cytisinicline for smoking cessation is coming to a close, we look towards the regulatory and commercialization phases. We expect to see the FDA formally accept the NDA by late August and Achieve's management team to turn its attention towards the sales effort. Assuming normal turnaround times, we expect the FDA to set a target action date sometime in 2Q:26. NDA Submission Achieve announced its NDA submission of cytisinicline for smoking cessation in a June 26th press release. The company conducted two Phase III studies, an open label safety study and other studies that evaluated over 2,000 participants with the results demonstrating the safety, efficacy and tolerability of cytisinicline. We expect to see acceptance of the NDA within 60 days and further expect additional safety data from the ongoing ORCA-OL trial to be shared with the agency near year end. Commercialization Partnership Now that the new drug application has been submitted, Achieve is further advancing its commercialization efforts. During its earnings calls, the company has outlined its commercialization strategy and is now partnering with Omnicom Group to execute the plan. Omnicom Group provides brand and advertising services to thousands of clients globally and is one of the world's largest advertising and marketing services companies. Achieve will work with Omnicom subsidiary Credera, which is focused on digital transformation services. Credera combines consulting, artificial intelligence (AI) and technology expertise to build consumer technology platforms, integrate marketing technology systems and provide strategic consulting services. It will help Achieve to precisely target and engage healthcare professionals and patients through optimization of channel performance and acceleration of meaningful engagement. The team executing the initiative will include Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, DDB Health, and Ketchum Health which are health care-focused subsidiaries of the Omnicom marketing group. The various subsidiaries will provide expertise in consumer brand development, medical education and strategic public relations and communications, applying industry insights to support cytisinicline launch. In the Achieve partnership, Ketchum Health brings public relations and communications expertise, while Credera handles technology, Goodby Silverstein provides creative advertising, and DDB Health focuses on healthcare marketing. The partnership will use generative AI, predictive analytics and social listening to enhance targeting and personalization. Using a comprehensive approach, it will also employ healthcare applications, pharmacies and data providers to expand the reach and depth of insights. Omnicom has worked as media agency, digital and brand experience for other pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients including established firms such as AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Moderna among others. Achieve will be the first small company that Omnicom has supported in commercializing a newly approved drug. Therefore, Omnicom will take on a broader strategic role than in its past partnerships. The Omnicom team will help communicate the optimal message to the provider and patient and monitor its effectiveness in real time. This will allow for rapid course corrections and focus on high value activities. Achieve has identified several target groups for its marketing efforts that are stratified by age, social media use and other demographic data. It was able to identify these groups based on subject experiences in the company's many clinical trials. We anticipate that the structure of Achieve's internal marketing team will be heavily tilted toward supporting the digital campaign with contract representatives available for in-person physician meetings when appropriate. Public Offering On June 30th, 2025 Achieve closed its $45 million capital raise. 15 million shares were issued at $3.00, each of which included an attached warrant exercisable at $3.00 per share. An additional 1,766,666 warrants were issued upon the partial exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares, bringing total issued warrants to approximately 16.8 million. Net proceeds from the capital raise are estimated to be $41.3 million as disclosed in the June 27th Form 8-K filing. ORCA-OL Safety Trial Achieve began 2025 by announcing that 300 participants had completed six months of treatment in the Ongoing Research of Cytisinicline for Addiction Program, Open Label (ORCA-OL) trial. The Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) identified no safety concerns as of this milestone allowing registrational filing with the FDA. As of May 2025, a third DSMC safety review was completed which also found no unexpected treatment-related adverse events. As of the first quarter reporting date, more than 100 subjects had completed one year of cytisinicline treatment. Furthermore, about 75% of the 479 (~360) individuals remained on treatment in the trial. We think that it is a material real-world positive that so many participants would remain on a smoking cessation product for that long a period suggesting that cytisinicline is well tolerated. This is particularly notable given the high discontinuation rates for Chantix and the associated unpleasant side effects such as nausea, headache, abnormal dreams and constipation.[1] Achieve expects to complete the one-year safety data package in the next few months and will submit this to the FDA by the 120-day safety review milestone. This should be around year-end 2025. Achieve expects that it will far exceed the 100-patient minimum required for one year of safety observations and could see as many as 300 patients with one year of exposure. Since one of the secondary endpoints is efficacy, this study should be able to show a wealth of data that can help providers use cytisinicline more effectively especially in chronic areas of disease such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and cardiology. Milestones Development of cytisinicline product label for smoking cessation – 1H:25 Completion of six months of ORCA-OL safety data for 300 subjects – January 2025 Attendance at Oppenheimer Healthcare Life Sciences Conference, Virtual – February 2025 Attendance at Barclays Healthcare Conference, Miami – March 2025 Selection of 3rd party logistics partner – 2Q:25 NDA Submission – 2Q:25 FDA data submission from patients with twelve months of exposure to cytisinicline – 4Q:25 Launch of Phase III vaping trial – 1H:26 FDA target action date for cytisinicline NDA – 1H:26 Launch of cytisinicline – 3Q:26 SUBSCRIBE TO ZACKS SMALL CAP RESEARCH to receive our articles and reports emailed directly to you each morning. Please visit our for additional information on Zacks SCR. DISCLOSURE: Zacks SCR has received compensation from the issuer directly, from an investment manager, or from an investor relations consulting firm, engaged by the issuer, for providing research coverage for a period of no less than one year. Research articles, as seen here, are part of the service Zacks SCR provides and Zacks SCR receives quarterly payments totaling a maximum fee of up to $40,000 annually for these services provided to or regarding the issuer. Full Disclaimer . ________________________ [1] Minian, N., et al. Identifying determinants of varenicline adherence using the Theoretical Domains framework: a rapid review. BMC Public Health. March 2024.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
No Duh: Suze Orman on Why Parents Shouldn't Be Paying Their Adult Kids' Phone Bills
In one of the most famous — and funniest — scenes from the 2010s-era HBO comedy series 'Girls,' perpetually petulant slacker and aspiring 'voice of a generation' Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) sits across from her parents as they cut her off financially. While Hannah has spent hours at an unpaid internship, bopping around Brooklyn and discovering herself, Mom and Dad have been footing the bill for everything — including her phone. Up Next: For You: 'We can't keep bankrolling your groovy lifestyle,' Mom says, prompting Hannah to insist that she's so close to the life she wants, her parents shouldn't end it now. The scene resonates because it has played out thousands of times in households around the country. Suze Orman, personal finance expert and best-selling author, would likely support Hannah's parents in their choice to make her stand on her own two feet — even if she's generally more in favor of starting with small, gradual steps. In a recent LinkedIn post, Orman emphasized how important it is for parents to stop paying for even seemingly small expenses, like phone bills, to help their children become more financially independent. Orman understands why parents are so tempted to help young adults. After all, cell phone bills and streaming services seem like relatively minor expenses — so why not make your kids' lives easier by covering them? However, Orman urges parents to flip their perspective: If the amount is truly small, that's exactly why young adults should be paying it themselves. Learning to manage even modest bills helps build a strong financial foundation. 'If it's a manageable amount, it won't be hard for them to take on. And that's a key step toward financial independence,' Orman wrote. 'Maybe it's the first bill they put on auto-pay — helping them build responsible habits and a strong credit score. Every step counts on the road to financial freedom!' Learn More: Hannah's parents may have had the right idea, but forcing her into total financial independence without helping her establish a financial safety net first might not be the wisest approach. Orman isn't against parents offering some financial help to their adult children, but she believes it should be structured to help young adults develop financial skills. In addition to having young adults pay for their own phone bills, streaming services, and car insurance, Orman says that adult children who move back home should chip in toward household expenses. Parents don't need to charge their twentysomethings the equivalent of a full market-rate mortgage or rent payment — after all, if they could afford rent, they wouldn't be living at home — but getting them in the habit of budgeting a certain amount to make 'rent' each month helps instill financial discipline. If parents genuinely don't need the extra money, they can always set aside their child's 'rent payments' and later return the funds as the foundation for an emergency savings account. As your children become adults — goodness, where did the time go? — you're nearing the age where retirement planning becomes even more critical. To ensure your own future, you simply can't remain open as the Bank of Mom and Dad. Orman stresses that while parents should encourage their kids to build financial independence, they must also stay focused on their own financial goals — especially retirement. Think of it this way: You've worked hard to build your financial security, and just as your adult children are in their own self-discovery periods, you have the right to start one of your own. More From GOBankingRates 8 Common Mistakes Retirees Make With Their Social Security Checks This article originally appeared on No Duh: Suze Orman on Why Parents Shouldn't Be Paying Their Adult Kids' Phone Bills
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump Announces His First Signed Trade Deal—Then Immediately Drops It
President Donald Trump not only dropped the document but also confused the U.S. trading partner it was with while announcing an agreement had been finalized with the United Kingdom on Monday. The president revealed the United States had signed a previously announced deal with the U.K. while standing alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 Summit in Canada. But when the president held up the folder with the document, pages tumbled to the ground, and Starmer ended up having to reach down to pick the papers up as Trump looked on. The 79-year-old president then proceeded to say that the agreement was with the European Union rather than the U.K. 'We just signed a document. This is—sorry about that,' Trump said as the papers hit the ground. 'Very important document,' Starmer chimed in with a smile as he picked the pages up. Both men laughed as the president joked it was a little windy there, though it did not appear to be wind that forced the pages from his grasp. 'We just signed it, and it's done, and so we have our trade agreement with the European Union, and it's a fair deal for both,' Trump then said, mixing up the U.K. with the EU. Neither leader revealed any details on what was in the deal, but Starmer called it a very important agreement on car tariffs and aerospace. Trump also claimed there were many other deals coming. The White House first announced that the U.S. and U.K. had reached a trade agreement early last month. The fact sheet for that deal included more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in other agricultural products. It also included a 10 percent tariff on the first 100,000 cars imported by the U.K. to the U.S. a year, and then a 25 percent tariff on any additional vehicles after that, as well as other details. Asked if anything had changed in the deal since they spoke about it by phone this spring, the president said, 'Not much.' The prime minister claimed the signed document would implement it. An executive order released by the White House on the deal on Monday also said the U.K. is committed to working to meet U.S. requirements regarding steel and aluminum product supply chain security. If it meets those requirements, 'the United States intends to promptly construct a quota at most-favored-nation rates for steel and aluminum articles.' In response to a question about steel tariffs on Monday, the president told reporters in Canada that the administration would let them have that information 'in a little while.'
