New York Supermarket Chains Drop Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream After 'Shameful' Move to Boycott Israel

[PeteS in CA]

New York Supermarket Chains Drop Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream After 'Shameful' Move to Boycott Israel

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/07/21/ben-and-jerrys-ice-cream-gets-heat-for-going-anti-semitic-n1463504

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the founders of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, were woke before it was cool to be woke. Even after the pair of aging hippies sold the brand to food giant Unilever, their social justice influence continued, thanks to an acquisition agreement with Unilever in which the company agreed to carry on the founders’ tradition of engaging “in critical, global economic and social missions.”

So it’s not surprising that Unilever released a statement on Monday saying it would no longer sell Ben & Jerry’s products in the “occupied territories” — the West Bank and Gaza Strip — once its licensing agreement in Israel expires in 2022.
...
This blatant cave-in to pressure by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement did not sit well with some New York supermarket chains.

World Israel News:

The board of directors of Morton Williams Supermarkets quickly met and decided that their 15 stores in the city that never sleeps (and one in New Jersey) would cut 70% of its B&J products, the New York Post reported Tuesday. Co-owner Avi Kaner told the daily that his shops would also stop promoting the brand in its circulars and put what was left in “the least desirable locations” of the freezer section.

...
Morton Williams wasn’t the only chain to act.

Two popular big groceries, Aron’s Kissena Farms in Queens, and Glatt Express Supermarket in Teaneck, N.J., aren’t waiting and announced that they have already removed the ice cream from their shelves in support of the Jewish state.

A number of other stores in the New York region that carry Ben & Jerry’s have followed suit as well as Kosher Kingdom in Melbourne, Australia.

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There are 30 states that have anti-BDS laws on the books. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has vowed to go to each one and demand they enforce their own laws.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The parent company is now doing some furious backpeddling as its share price plummets in the wake of the ice cream fiasco

''We're not woke', says Unilever boss

The boss of Unilever has insisted the consumer goods behemoth is not "woke", as he sought to distance it from a decision by its Ben & Jerry's brand to stop selling ice cream in occupied Palestinian territories.

Alan Jope rejected the label despite saying the Marmite, Domestos and Magnum owner is committed to campaigning for "universal human truths" such as social justice and refugee rights.

Unilever has long trumpeted its social values, slashing carbon emissions across its brands and vowing to become "a beacon of diversity and inclusion".

However, it sparked fury in Israel this week when Ben & Jerry's said that serving occupied territories went against its values. Naftali Bennett, the prime minister, threatened the FTSE 100 company with "severe consequences" as a result.

It came as shares fell almost 6pc after Unilever said it had been hit by rising inflation costs.

Asked if Unilever was a woke business, Mr Jope said: "We're not, we're driven by purpose. It [purpose] drives a stronger business performance."

He wanted to "double underscore Unilever's ongoing commitment to Israel", where it has invested heavily over the years.

The independent board of Ben & Jerry's independent board was behind the boycott, Mr Jope said, and that Unilever respected their decision in line with the acquisition agreement it signed 20 years ago.

The ice-cream company’s founders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, started their business in a Vermont petrol station in 1978 and six years later set up the Ben & Jerry's Foundation before selling to Unilever in 2000.

Mr Jope said: "In the same way that Ben & Jerry’s have campaigned on issues of social justice, refugee rights and climate justice, I think the majority of our brands’ purpose-related initiatives are linked to universal human truths and it’s the nature of what our brands do."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/were-not-woke-says-unilever-122643809.html

[thackney]

https://www.unilever.com/brands/view-all-brands/

Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, with an annual turnover of €5 billion. With the exception of its U.S. brands Popsicle, Klondike, Talenti gelato, Breyers and Ben & Jerry's, the bulk of the company's ice cream business falls under its "Heartbrand" brand umbrella, so called because of the brand's heart-shaped logo. Unilever currently operates eleven ice cream factories in Europe; the biggest include factories at Hellendoorn in The Netherlands, Heppenheim in Germany, Caivano in Italy, Saint-Dizier in France, Gloucester in the United Kingdom and Santa Iria de Azóia [pt] in Portugal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unilever_brands

[Wingnut]

I never buy Bend-over priced and Jerry's Ice crème so a boycott is easy for me. 

Good grief these bastards own a ton of companies/brands.  It would be hard to not have there stuff in your house!

https://www.unilever.com/brands/personal-care/