LONDON, U.K.: Jerry Greenfield, who co-founded Ben & Jerry's nearly 50 years ago, has stepped away from the ice cream brand, saying its parent Unilever has stripped it of the independence that once defined it, the Financial Times reported.

Greenfield said the Vermont-based company has lost its voice after Unilever curtailed its social activism, according to the report.

The report could not be confirmed. Ben & Jerry's and Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a letter to a consumer group cited by FT, Greenfield said he could no longer "in good conscience" remain with a company that had been "silenced" despite a merger agreement meant to protect its social mission.

"That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement" he and fellow co-founder Ben Cohen had negotiated with Unilever, Greenfield wrote.

Last week, Cohen revealed that Ben & Jerry's had tried to arrange a sale to investors at a fair market value between US$1.5 and $2.5 billion amid ongoing tensions with Unilever, but the effort was rejected.

The standoff with Unilever dates back at least to 2021, when Ben & Jerry's announced it would stop selling in the Israel-occupied West Bank. Since then, the company has sued its owner for allegedly stifling its activism and has gone as far as calling the conflict in Gaza a "genocide" — language unusual for a major U.S. brand.