Unilever has allegedly threatened to stop Ben & Jerry’s foundation funding, sources have reported.

It is understood that the consumer goods giant has asked the US-based non-profit Ben & Jerry’s Foundation to agree to an expedited audit of its donations to continue the funding, reported Reuters.

The funding, which amounts to an average of $5m annually and is determined by a formula based on sales of the brand’s ice cream, is used by Ben & Jerry’s to make donations to social justice organisations.

Charities the foundation has supported include the renter advocacy group Homes for All St. Louis; the inmate sentence reducing non-profit the Felony Murder Elimination Project; and the undocumented student support organisation Adelante Student Voices.

The news follows Ben & Jerry’s launching a lawsuit against its parent company in November, over claims Unilever has attempted to stifle its socio-political activism and dismantle its board.

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Last month, in an allegation filed in a US court, the ice cream brand accused its owner of removing its chief executive David Stever, and violating a merger agreement by trying to silence its “social mission” over the business’s advocacy for issues, including public statements about Palestinian refugees amid the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The current legal dispute is not the first time Ben & Jerry’s has clashed with Unilever over its stance on social, climate, and human rights issues.

In 2021, the brand said it no longer wanted its ice cream to be sold in the parts of Palestine occupied by Israelis including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Unilever eventually sold the Israeli arm of Ben & Jerry’s to a local operator that allowed sales to continue under different branding.

However, the US ice cream brand subsequently took legal action against Unilever but was later resolved.

Political activism is a core part of the Ben & Jerry’s brand. In 2023, co-founder Ben Cohen was arrested in Washington over protesting following the prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Unilever has been contacted for comment.