(Reuters) - Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) co-founder Jerry Greenfield, whose name helped shape the popular ice cream brand, has quit the company, his partner Ben Cohen said on Wednesday, deepening the rift with parent Unilever ( UL ).

In an open letter addressing the Ben & Jerry community that was shared by Cohen on social media platform X, Greenfield said that the Vermont-based company has lost its independence since UK parent Unilever ( UL ) curtailed its social activism.

Unilever ( UL ) and Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) have clashed since 2021, when the Chubby Hubby maker said it would stop sales in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The brand has since sued its parent over alleged efforts to silence it and described the Gaza conflict as "genocide," a rare stance for a major U.S. company.

Greenfield said he could no longer "in good conscience" continue working for a company that had been "silenced" by Unilever ( UL ), despite a merger agreement meant to safeguard the brand's social mission.

"That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever ( UL )," he wrote in the letter.

A Magnum Ice Cream company spokesperson said that it disagrees with Greenfield's perspective and has sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's ( UL ) powerful values-based position in the world.

Unilever ( UL ) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last week Ben Cohen said the brand had attempted to engineer a sale to investors at a fair market value between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion amid tensions with Unilever ( UL ) but the proposal was rejected.