Häagen-Dazs

Sometimes all it takes is one brilliant idea. Reuben Mattus (1913-1994) was a Polish immigrant who began his career peddling his family’s ice cream from a horse-drawn wagon. After more than 30 years of selling his wares on a small scale to restaurants and stores in the Bronx, Reuben noticed something about American consumers. They wanted good ice cream, but they also wanted something exotic.

So Reuben put on his thinking cap and came up with the name “Häagen-Dazs” for his new line of premium, high-fat ice cream. Although it sports an umlaut and sounds Scandinavian, the name “Häagen-Dazs” is pure nonsense — it doesn’t actually mean anything in any known language. But consumers took the bait, and “Häagen-Dazs” was an immediate hit with everyone (except dieters, of course). An ironic footnote: Hedging his bets after he sold Häagen-Dazs to Pillsbury in 1983, Reuben Mattus went on to develop and market “Mattus’ Lowfat Ice Cream.”

May 7, 2008 | Filed Under Food and Drink 

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