Unilever Veteran Named CEO at Ben & Jerry’s

A Unilever executive was appointed chief executive at Ben & Jerry’s in what may mean an exit for the ice cream company’s co-founders. Yves Couette was installed by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch food conglomerate that bought South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben & Jerry’s in August. He replaces Perry Odak. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield issued a statement saying, “We strongly supported a different candidate, a longtime member of Ben & Jerry’s board of directors whose commitment to our social policies was clear and established.” Cohen and Greenfield built a company devoted to ice cream and social ideals. The firm donates a share of its profits to charity. Unilever and Couette have said they are dedicated to Ben & Jerry’s social ideals. Couette has worked for Unilever for 24 years. He said he ran a Unilever ice cream firm in Mexico for four years that was similar to Ben & Jerry’s. When Couette was introduced to employees last week, three other executives said they expected to leave the company, said Unilever spokesman Stephen Milton. Unilever’s American depositary receipts closed up 13 cents at $32.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.