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☆ Will A.I. Boost Productivity? Companies Sure Hope So.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Jordyn Holman | Jeanna Smialek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Rapid productivity improvement is the dream for both companies and economic policymakers. If output per hour holds steady, firms must either sacrifice profits or raise prices to pay for wage increases or investment projects. Economies experiencing productivity booms can experience rapid wage gains and quick growth without as much risk of rapid inflation. — especially generative A.I., which is still in its infancy — has spread enough to show up in productivity data already. “may” have the potential to increase productivity growth, “but probably not in the short run.” John C. Williams, president of the New York Fed, has made similar remarks, specifically citing the work of the Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon.

Persons: Jerome H, Powell, ” John C, Williams, Robert Gordon Organizations: Ben, Abercrombie, Fitch’s, Federal Reserve, New York Fed, Northwestern University

☆ Ben & Jerry’s is set to be spun off from Unilever. Here’s how the company’s founding duo built an ice cream empire from an old gas station.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Joey Hadden | Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Unilever said Tuesday that it will spin off its ice cream brands, including Ben & Jerry's. It's the latest change for Ben & Jerry's, which was founded by two childhood friends from Long Island. Here's the story of Ben & Jerry's, from a gas station in Vermont to global distribution. While many companies keep away from social issues, Ben & Jerry's has made weighing in part of its strategy. Now, Unilever is reportedly planning to spin off Ben & Jerry's, plus other ice cream brands, such as Magnum.

Persons: Jerry's, Ben, —, George Floyd, Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield Organizations: Unilever, Ben, Service Locations: Long, Vermont

LONDON (AP) — Unilever, the company that makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soaps and Vaseline, said Tuesday that it is cutting 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream business to reduce costs and boost profits. London-based Unilever said its ice cream business, which also includes Magnum bars, has “distinct characteristics” from its other brands and would benefit from separate ownership to increase growth. The British consumer goods company with 128,000 employees also said it is launching a “productivity program” that is expected to lead to a reduction of about 7,500 mostly office-based jobs worldwide. The company behind Hellman’s mayonnaise, Axe fragrances and Cif household cleaners said it is targeting underlying sales growth of mid-single digits after spinning off the ice cream business. It saw sales volume drop 3.6% in 2022 after jacking up prices 13.3% on average across its brands that year.

Persons: Hein Schumacher, ”, Richard Hunter Organizations: — Unilever, Unilever, London Stock Exchange Locations: London

☆ Unilever to Cut 7,500 Jobs and Spin Off Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Unit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Unilever, the consumer goods giant, said on Tuesday that it would cut 7,500 jobs and spin off its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, to reduce costs and simplify its portfolio of brands. The moves would make for “a simpler, more focused and higher performing Unilever,” Ian Meakins, the London-based company’s chair, said in a statement. The group’s ice cream unit generated 7.9 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in sales last year, or about 13 percent of the group’s total. The division is home to Ben & Jerry’s, which Unilever acquired in 2000, along with other brands like Cornetto, Magnum, Talenti and Wall’s. The spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Persons: ” Ian Meakins, Hein Schumacher Organizations: Unilever Locations: London

☆ Unilever: Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum will form the core of an $8 billion ice cream company
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —The world’s biggest ice cream business is about to go it alone. The newly minted firm will boast five of the 10 best-selling ice cream brands worldwide, namely Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Walls and Cornetto. “The future growth of Unilever and ice cream is best served by separating the business,” Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher told journalists. Philippe Wojazer/ReutersThe origins of Unilever’s ice cream business can be traced back to the summer of 1913, when Thomas Wall started selling ice cream from his family butcher shop in London. But its ice cream sales took a hit last year as cash-strapped consumers cut back on non-essential spending.

Persons: Jerry’s, “, Hein Schumacher, ” Schumacher, Miko Carte, Philippe Wojazer, Thomas Wall, Matt Britzman, Hargreaves, ”, —, Schumacher Organizations: London CNN, Unilever, ” Employees, Schumacher Locations: Saint, France, London, €

☆ Unilever to split off its ice cream unit including Ben & Jerry’s
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

A family enjoys the visitor attractions at Ben & Jerrys factory in Waterbury, Vermont on June 24, 2021. Consumer goods giant Unilever said Tuesday that it is separating its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry's and Magnum, as part of a restructuring plan that will impact 7,500 jobs. "The proposed changes are expected to impact around 7,500 predominantly office-based roles globally, with total restructuring costs now anticipated to be around 1.2% of Group turnover for the next three years (up from the around 1% of Group turnover previously communicated)," a statement said. This is breaking news story, please check back later for more.

Persons: Jerrys, Jerry's Organizations: Consumer, Unilever Locations: Waterbury , Vermont

☆ My coworker dated 3 other women in the office before we fell for each other. We've been married for nearly 25 years.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-18 | by ( Kara Williams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

When I first met my new coworker, Quent — a tall guy in glasses — I thought he was cute. But I had a live-in boyfriend , and Quent was just a few months divorced from a woman he’d met in the office. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised when Quent eventually started dating someone new in our office social circle. “Just as friends,” we planned a weekend ski trip to Breckenridge with a colleague and her husband. AdvertisementToday, do I care that I was the fourth — and final — in the line of girls he dated at work?

Persons: —, Quent, he’d, I’d, “, ”, me, we’d, we’re Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Denver, Australia, Breckenridge, Moab, Hawaii, Colorado

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s has reached its first contract agreement with workers at a retail shop in the Vermont city where it was founded after the employees petitioned to unionize last year, Scoopers United and the brand announced Thursday. About 40 workers at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop in Burlington announced last April that they planned to form a union. Ben & Jerry’s, known as much for its social activism as its products and currently owned by consumer goods conglomerate Unilever, said it supported the workers’ plan. “This joint celebration is a testament to the leadership and collaboration required of both parties to create such a monumental first contract,” the union said in a written statement on Thursday. “We are proud that Ben & Jerry’s attracts employees who embrace our values as we have reached this agreement thanks to these scoopers’ hard work and ownership in this effort,” it said.

Persons: Jerry’s, unionize, ” Ben, Jerry's, “, Ben Organizations: Scoopers, Ben, Unilever Locations: BURLINGTON, Vt, Vermont, Burlington

☆ Philip Schlamberg: Final US combat death of World War II was Jewish teen in Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“The Last Fighter Pilot” says when the service saw those scores, Schlamberg was offered his pick of jobs and chose to be a fighter pilot. During that trip, he saw Japanese war veterans up close and felt a kinship, he said. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty ImagesFitting endingsYellin died in December 2017, shortly after “The Last Fighter Pilot” was published. In the foreword to “The Last Fighter Pilot,” Yellin recounted how World War II’s end was fitting for the times. “And that the final combat life in the defense of freedom would be laid down by a teenage Jewish fighter pilot who had not yet learned to even drive a car.”

Persons: Emperor Hirohito, Jerry Yellin, Philip Schlamberg, Yellin, Schlamberg, “, ” Yellin, Hirohito, ”, Phil, they’d, Ian Hitchcock, I’m, “ I’m, ” Schlamberg, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Melanie Sloan, ” “, ” Sloan, Philip, Sloan, Don Brown, he’d, Schlamberg’s smarts, Jerry Yellin’s, ‘ I’m, ’ ”, Yellin’s, Michael, ’, ” Michael Yellin, Saul Loeb, Helene, Robert, Taro Yamakawa, Yamakawa, “ Yellin Organizations: CNN, US Army Air Corps, US Defense Department, Nazi, US, 78th Fighter Squadron, National Archives, Iwo, Fighter Squadron, American, T150 Defence Force Air, Culpeper Regional Airport, Getty, Abraham Lincoln High School, Army Air Corps, Memorial, of, Monuments, New, Montclair Local, Arsenal, Democracy, US Air Force, Arlington National Cemetery, “ Locations: Tokyo, Nazi Germany, Europe, Brooklyn, Iwo Jima, Ukraine, East, Sudan, Myanmar, United States, Nagasaki, Japan, Hiroshima, Utah, Townsville, Australia, Culpeper, Brandy Station, Virginia, AFP, Honolulu, Honolulu , Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, New Jersey, America, Washington ,, Arlington, Pacific, New York

☆ Why Woke Capitalism Works for Ben & Jerry’s
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Anson Frericks | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-woke-works-for-ben-jerrys-esg-corporate-mission-statement-shareholder-value-a188402c

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ The world’s biggest ice cream company says heat waves may not help sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Can it ever be too hot for ice cream? “When it gets too hot, people move away from ice cream and buy a cold drink instead,” he said. The consumer goods giant commands a fifth of global ice cream sales, according to Euromonitor. The company’s overall ice cream sales grew 5.7% in the first half of the year in value terms, compared with the same period in 2022. Price rises across Unilever’s products helped push up its sales by 9.1% in the first half, even though volumes fell marginally.

Persons: Cornetto, ”, Graeme Pitkethly, Jerry’s, Carte d’Or, Hein Schumacher, Schumacher —, FrieslandCampina — Organizations: London CNN, Unilever, UL, Health Locations: Europe, Spain, Italy, Greece, Ukraine

☆ Fact Check-Ben & Jerry’s tweet celebrating U.S. becoming white minority in 2045 is fake
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S.-based ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s did not tweet asking customers what ice cream flavor they would eat to celebrate the U.S. becoming a white minority country in 2045. The image appears to show a tweet published via the company’s Twitter account (@benandjerrys) that reads: “By 2045, the US will finally become a minority white country. Which flavor of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream will you be eating to celebrate? Reuters did not find a notice of a deleted tweet when analyzing replies to tweets published by Ben & Jerry’s account between Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, 2020 (bit.ly/3Ocv0w9). Reuters found no evidence that such a tweet was posted by Ben & Jerry’s.

Persons: Jerry’s, Ben, Read Organizations: Ben, Reuters, Twitter

☆ Heineken, Unilever and Oreo maker Mondelez accused of breaking promises to leave Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It’s shameful and unethical.”Sonnenfeld, who has testified before Congress about companies leaving Russia, is not accusing these corporations of breaking the law. ‘Implied endorsement of the Putin regime’The “poster child” for this problem is the popular Dutch brewing giant Heineken, Sonnenfeld said. In March 2022, just one month after the invasion of Ukraine, Heineken won praise for promising to leave Russia. “We expect a significant financial loss to the Heineken company. The Yale research said Mondelez shows “no tangible signs of progress towards exiting” and continues to do business in Russia.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Jeff Sonnenfeld, Philip Morris, ” Sonnenfeld, “, ”, ‘, Putin, Sonnenfeld, Steven Tian, ExxonMobil –, ” Heineken, ” Mondelez, Mondelez, That’s, Lipton, Mark Dixon, Nestle, Kit Kat, Purina, Sbarro, Carl’s Jr, Carl’s, Yale, Tim Calkins, Calkins Organizations: New York CNN Business, Yale, Heineken, Unilever, CNN, ”, Institute . Yale, BP, ExxonMobil, Nabisco, Kyiv School of Economics, Agency, Nestle, WeWork, Mondelez, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Restaurants Holdings, CKE, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Russian, ”, American, South Africa

☆ Unilever pivots to African suppliers as forex pressure mounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Seun Sanni | Richa Naidu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The war in Ukraine exacerbated supply chain logjams and manufacturing issues that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. Managing foreign exchange costs is largely what is driving a pivot to African suppliers, Unilever said, even though sourcing from the continent can cost more than buying from parts of Asia. “Over 95% of the brands we sell to our (African) consumers are made in African factories,” Reginaldo Ecclissato, Unilever’s chief business operations and supply chain officer, told Reuters. Today more than two-thirds of the ingredients that go into Unilever products sold in African markets come from the continent, the company said. Where is it on the scale of Unilever’s supply chain?” he said.

Persons: Kasali, ” Kasali, “, Knorr, Hellmann’s, Reginaldo, Tedd George, Nestle, ”, Pierre, André, Ecclissato, it’s, bouillon, Iranloye, Busari, Unilever’s Ecclissato Organizations: Reuters, Unilever, REUTERS, ” Unilever, Nestle, Danone, sorbitol Locations: ALAYIDE, Nigeria, Oyo, Africa, Ukraine, Asia, India, China, South Africa, Lagos, Oyo State

☆ Black Men Don’t Do Therapy. Or So I Thought.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Ismail Muhammad | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Sitting in a chair next to the record player, I’d play the song over and over and over, listening tearfully. When my favorite TV characters died, I’d mourn them, staying in my feelings for days at a time. Eventually I met a therapist who practiced cognitive behavioral therapy, an approach whose orientation toward problem-solving suited me. I’d learned to register, name and acknowledge my feelings as a way of managing them rather than being overwhelmed. Sadness sneaked up on me as I tried to describe my emotional life to people who I knew loved me but with whom I communicated through a haze of mutual discomfort.

☆ Ben & Jerry’s Paves Way for Union at Vermont Store
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ben & Jerry’s announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with workers at its flagship store in Burlington, Vt., on a set of rules to ensure a fair union election, after the workers’ announcement last week that they were seeking to organize. The agreement is likely to pave the way for the store to become the only unionized Ben & Jerry’s location in the United States. All of the nearly 40 workers eligible to join a union at the store have indicated their support for doing so. The company indicated that the agreement could make the store a better place to work. Rebeka Mendelsohn, a shift manager who has helped lead the organizing campaign, said she hoped the agreement would encourage workers at other Ben & Jerry’s stores to consider unionizing.

☆ Jerry Springer cause of death revealed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Longtime television host and former mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer died from pancreatic cancer, his longtime representative Linda Shafran confirmed to CNN Friday. Springer’s death had been announced Thursday. His tabloid talk series, “The Jerry Springer Show,” premiered in 1991 and was wildly successful in syndication. Both Springer and his show were often criticized for helping to popularize “trash TV” due to the often outrageous guests he hosted. Springer once told CNN that he did not mind being referred to as the “grandfather of trash TV,” saying in 2010, as “The Jerry Springer Show” celebrated its 20th anniversary on the air: “It’s probably accurate.

☆ Jerry Springer, raucous talk show host, dead at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Television personality Jerry Springer at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File PhotoLONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Television personality Jerry Springer, known for a long-running talk show that featured raucous audiences, controversial topics and fist-fighting guests and who briefly served as Cincinnati mayor, died at age 79 on Thursday, his family said. Springer was born in London on Feb. 13, 1944, and immigrated to New York City when he was 4 years old. In 1991, Springer landed his own television program, a syndicated talk show broadcast across the United States until 2018. The daytime program, known as "The Jerry Springer Show," was initially a politically oriented show but later featured everyday people discussing sensationalistic topics, often related to unconventional sexuality.

☆ Nestlé Says Less Than Half of Its Main Portfolio Is Ranked as Healthy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Joshua Kirby | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +3 min

Nestlé SA promised it will work to boost the nutritional value of its snacks, drinks and food products, after most of its portfolio was rated as unhealthy. Less than half of Nestlé’s main food-and-drink portfolio is considered healthy, according to the results of an international nutrient profiling system that the Swiss food company published for the first time. Nestlé started using it last year with the aim of boosting transparency about the nutritional value of its products. “Our focus is on improving the nutritional value of our products,” Nestlé said. The rankings from the Access to Nutrition Initiative rate companies on their practices and disclosure, including on ensuring healthy products and influencing consumer choices.

☆ The Next Frontier in Farming? The Ocean.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

For centuries, it’s been treasured in kitchens in Asia and neglected almost everywhere else: Those glistening ribbons of seaweed that bend and bloom in cold ocean waves. Far beyond South Korea, new farms have cropped up in Maine, the Faroe Islands, Australia, even the North Sea. But even as its champions see it as a miracle crop for a hotter planet, others worry that the zeal to farm the ocean could replicate some of the same damages of farming on land. “Seaweed is not going to replace all plastic, but seaweed combined with other things can tackle single use plastic,” he said. Seaweed farms are a far cry from the rows of corn and wheat that make up monoculture farming on land.

☆ Unilever Tries Reformulating Its Ice Cream to Survive Warmer Freezers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Katie Deighton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Keeping ice cream at 10 degrees as opposed to zero will reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 20% to 30% per freezer, it said. Unilever’s out-of-home ice cream sales declined slightly during the fourth quarter of 2022 because, the company said, some stores unplugged their freezers sooner in the year than usual. Higher temperatures can lead to softer ice creams that stick to wrappers and slide off ice cream sticks, for example, said Andrew Sztehlo, chief research and development officer for Unilever’s ice cream division. The warming program isn’t designed to sweat competitors out of Unilever freezers, which some shopkeepers fill with an assortment of brands that don’t carry the Unilever logo, Mr. Sztehlo said. Representatives from ice cream makers Nestlé SA, Mars Inc., General Mills Inc. and Froneri International Ltd. declined to comment.

☆ Nestlé says food prices will rise further this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Food, including ice cream, will see significant price increases in 2023, CEO Alan Jope said on the same call. Unilever said price increases caused sales volumes to decline by 2.1% in 2022. Heineken, meanwhile, said it expected to sell less beer in Europe this year because of “steep” price increases related to energy costs. At the time, Tesco (TSCDF) described the company’s price increases as “unjustifiable.” Once the products were restored, prices were unchanged on Heinz’s most popular lines. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesTesco has also “fallen out with other suppliers” over price increases, its chairman John Allen recently told the BBC.

☆ Higher Prices Hit Demand for Unilever’s Soap and Ice Cream
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Peter Stiff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Unilever said sales volumes fell most in ice cream, with in-home sales in prior years boosted by pandemic lockdowns. LONDON— UnileverPLC reported a fall in quarterly sales volumes as higher prices for its soap and ice cream hit consumer demand, and warned that the trend was set to continue this year. The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said sales volume fell 3.6% in the fourth quarter, with declines in all its business groups, as it increased prices by an average of 13.3%. Underlying sales growth for the three months to Dec. 31 came in at 9.2%, above analysts’ expectations.

☆ Unilever Taps Dairy Boss as New CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Peter Stiff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Unilever is looking to boost growth across its sprawling portfolio, while grappling with rising input costs and changing consumer trends. Unilever PLC has appointed Hein Schumacher as its new chief executive, tapping the head of a European dairy cooperative to lead its effort to reinvigorate growth and navigate economic uncertainty. The owner of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap said Monday that Mr. Schumacher would become CEO on July 1. He succeeds incumbent Alan Jope, who the company said in September would retire this year.

☆ Breakingviews: Unilever ice cream saga may sour ESG deals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Unilever’s (ULVR.L) drawn-out ice cream drama offers food for thought on buying companies with strong political leanings. The consumer goods group said on Thursday that its litigation with the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s over the sale of its Israeli ice cream business has “been resolved”. The ice cream mess made for an odd corporate drama. Unilever bought the hipster brand in 2000 for $326 million, leaving Ben & Jerry’s board more independence than a typical subsidiary. The company also asked a judge to stop Zinger from selling the ice cream in the West Bank.

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