Magnum Ice Cream Company announced that Jochanan Snf was appointed global CEO for Ben & Jerry’s effective in mid-July.
Senf has been with Unilever since 2003. He held several positions within the company, such as MD of Ben & Jerry’s Europe, global marketing manager and strategist, Beverages, and Brand-category Manager, Foods.
He gained a deeper understanding of ice-cream as vice president, Refreshments Indonesia.
He was most recently the general manager of Foods for the DACH Region, with responsibility from top to bottom. In addition, he held the vice president position in Europe’s Cooking Aids division.
Jochanan Snef, the global CEO of Ben & Jerry’s will take over as Global CEO in mid-July 2020. (Unilever)
Senf has been overseeing Ben & Jerry’s European operations for over 7 years. This role helped to enhance the market position of Ben & Jerry’s in Europe.
Unilever’s spokesperson said: “Jochanan has a remarkable business history.” He is an expert in ice cream, knows business inside out, and knows everything about Ben and Jerry’s.
This makes him a very well-qualified leader to take Ben and Jerry to a period of exciting transformation.
What was the former CEO of Ben & Jerry?
David Stever, former B&J CEO, left the company in early this year. (Hand-out/Ben & Jerry’s)
This appointment came three months after Ben & Jerry’s former CEO David Stever left the company amid controversy.
Unilever has allegedly removed Stever from the board of Ben & Jerry’s, who is suing Unilever over alleged political statements.
In a lawsuit, B&J directors alleged that the board of B&J had not been consulted properly about Mr. B&J’s removal.
Unilever has confirmed that it had reviewed Stever’s position as part of an overall leadership shake-up in preparation for the demerger of its ice cream business. Unilever’s Ice Cream business has been operationally split from the larger group, and now goes by The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
Unilever claims that Stever was offered an increase in salary and a prominent role at Magnum Ice Cream Company but chose to leave B&J’s on his own accord.
Has the B&J board been consulted about Senf’s nomination?
B&J’s Insiders have told The Wall Street Journal in a twist that Jochanan Senf was installed as the new CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, without consulting the independent board of the ice-cream brand.
In the 2000 merger agreement between Unilever & Ben & Jerry’s, B&J’s chief executive officer is selected by Unilever ‘after consultation’ in good faith with B&J’s board of directors.
According to the agreement, “The Chief executive officer of the Surviving Corporation will be appointed by Conopco after consultation in good faith with the Appointment committee of the Surviving Corporation Board, consisting of Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield and one or two other directors from the class I directors and class M directors.
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (right) founded Ben & Jerry’s back in 1978. (Steph Miles/Ben & Jerry’s / Unilever)
Unilever: B&J board had a ‘great opportunity’ to participate in the selection of CEO
Unilever has denied not cooperating with B&J directors in the hiring of CEOs.
Unilever’s spokesperson said: “We have always and will continue to focus on the collaboration that is in accordance with the merger agreement of Unilever and Ben and Jerry’s.
The agreement states that the board and management are in discussion about the nomination of a new CEO.
The independent board has no operational control over Ben and Jerry’s. It is responsible for the brand’s integrity and for its social mission, but it does not control the operation of the company. [such as] The decision was made to name a new CEO. It is our duty to do so, and we have done just that.
We invited an independent board to give their input on the job description. Their feedback was incorporated in the final version. [and] Also introduced them to our outside recruitment firm, which has supported us through this entire process.
We encouraged them interview both internal and external candidates even though the merger agreement didn’t require or allow them to.
We also asked them to provide feedback during the entire process. This included taking part in a discussion that was used as the final assessment of the candidates.
The independent board’s response to all this has been either to decline the request or to defer the timings and process. Or, in reality, they have threatened litigation.
We’ve always acted with good will. Unfortunately, that’s not the answer from the independent panel.
The statement “they’ve had the opportunity to participate in the process” is incorrect.