Ben & Jerry's is owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company (the Netherlands, AEX: MAGNUM), which was separated from Unilever on 8 December 2025.[1][2] Before The Magnum Ice Cream Company, Ben & Jerry's was owned by Unilever from 2000 to 2025.[4][5]
Ben & Jerry's was founded in a converted Burlington, Vermont petrol station in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. Unilever acquired it in 2000 under a merger agreement that preserved an independent board with a social mission mandate. The brand moved to The Magnum Ice Cream Company in the December 2025 ice cream demerger.
What The Magnum Ice Cream Company's annual report says about Ben & Jerry's
Sentences about Ben & Jerry's from The Magnum Ice Cream Company's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
From the early introduction of Popsicle - a frozen, flavoured delight on a stick that redefined convenience - to Ben & Jerry's pioneering pint-sized containers that drove category growth during the 1980s and 1990s.
Moreover, it offers a wide range of choices and portion control, from an indulgent Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough to low-calorie fruit water ice and more focused nutrition options like our high-protein Yasso range.
How often The Magnum Ice Cream Company names Ben & Jerry's in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
2000 – 2025Unilever — acquired 3 August 2000[4][5]verifiedHeld through Conopco, Inc. Transferred to The Magnum Ice Cream Company in the December 2025 ice cream demerger.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company is a publicly listed company headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 2025. Brandtree records 14 brands under its control, and it is listed as AEX: MAGNUM, LSE: MAGN and NYSE: MICC.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company is the ice cream business demerged from Unilever and listed on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange on 8 December 2025. It describes itself as the world's largest ice cream company, with turnover of €7.9 billion in 2025 and around 16,500 employees. Unilever retained a 19.9% stake at admission.
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States.
478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Ben & Jerry's among them.
Unilever separated its ice cream business as The Magnum Ice Cream Company, whose shares were admitted to trading on Euronext Amsterdam, the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange on 8 December 2025. Unilever shareholders received shares in the new company as a demerger dividend, and Unilever retained a 19.9% stake at admission.
Unilever's subsidiary Conopco acquired Ben & Jerry's Homemade in a two-step transaction: a cash tender offer at $43.60 per share through Vermont All Natural Expansion Company, followed by a back-end merger. The merger agreement created an independent board with a continuing social mission mandate.
The parent company of Ben & Jerry's is The Magnum Ice Cream Company, a publicly listed company headquartered in the Netherlands.
Is Ben & Jerry's owned by Unilever?
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No. Ben & Jerry's is owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company, not Unilever. Unilever owned Ben & Jerry's from 2000 until 2025.
Is Ben & Jerry's owned by Nestlé?
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No. Ben & Jerry's is owned by The Magnum Ice Cream Company, not Nestlé.
Is Ben & Jerry's American or Dutch?
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Ben & Jerry's originated in the United States in 1978, but it is owned today by The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is headquartered in the Netherlands. So Ben & Jerry's is an American-origin brand under Dutch ownership.
Since when has The Magnum Ice Cream Company owned Ben & Jerry's?
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The Magnum Ice Cream Company has owned Ben & Jerry's since 8 December 2025.
Who owned Ben & Jerry's before The Magnum Ice Cream Company?
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Before The Magnum Ice Cream Company, Ben & Jerry's was owned by Unilever from 2000 until 2025.
Sources (5) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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