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The original creators of the well-known frozen dessert company Ben and Jerry's has announced that parent company Unilever stopped the launch for a new pro-Palestinian frozen dessert product.

Ben Cohen, who co-founded the company alongside his partner, disclosed that he will personally create the controversial flavor as part of an individual collection showcasing issues Ben & Jerry's has been barred from addressing publicly.

Longstanding Dispute Involving Creators and Corporate Owner

The recent announcement escalates the ongoing conflict among the internationally recognized dessert company with Unilever, the British consumer goods giant that acquired the ice cream brand since 2000.

The co-founders maintain that Unilever and its ice cream arm the Magnum brand unlawfully blocked their company against "fulfilling its ethical commitments".

The Fruit Sorbet becoming a Symbol for Support

The entrepreneur revealed through an Instagram video how he's developing an innovative watermelon-based frozen dessert, asking for public suggestions for naming options plus additional components.

“I'm doing what they were prevented from doing,” Mr. Cohen stated in his kitchen. “I'm making a watermelon-flavored frozen dessert that calls for lasting ceasefire for Palestinians and calls for repairing the damage that occurred in the region.”

The watermelon has emerged as a symbol of support for the Palestinian people due to its colors, that closely resemble the colors in Palestine's national banner – red, green, black and white.

Previous Activism plus Recent Developments

In 2021, the ice cream company ceased sales of their merchandise in territories under Israeli control, leading to Unilever selling their Israel business over to an Israeli distributor, thereby permitting continued sales in disputed territories.

The new dessert series will be created through Mr. Cohen's personal brand, the activist dessert company that was first established in 2016 to support ex- US presidential candidate Senator Sanders with the flavor "Bernie's Return".

Management Shifts and Future Plans

The founder revealed how he will create additional frozen dessert varieties focusing on concerns which Ben & Jerry's was silenced from speaking about openly by Unilever.

This development comes after co-founder Mr. Greenfield resigned from Ben & Jerry's in September, following many years of involvement, citing worries that its independence had been compromised following Unilever's decision to restrict their advocacy work.

Previously, Mr. Cohen remarked that "Jerry has strong compassion and the ongoing dispute with Unilever was deeply distressing him."

"My heart compels me to continue to work inside the company to fight for corporate autonomy ensuring that the company can achieve the social mission, the principles which it was founded on and has maintained for over 40 years," he explained to media outlets.

• Corporate owner restrictions on political advocacy
• Independent flavor creation by company founders
• The fruit-based product as social statement
• Continuing tensions between parent company and social mission