Häagen-Dazs

Häagen-Dazs [IPA|ˈha:gənˌdas] is an American brand of ice cream, established by Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in The Bronx, New York in 1959. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn NY in 1975 and then offered franchises throughout the United States and 54 other countries around the world. Häagen-Dazs produces ice cream, ice cream bars, sorbet, and frozen yogurt.

Overview

The ice cream comes in many different flavors and is a "super-premium" brand, meaning it uses high quality ingredients and is quite dense (very little air is mixed in during manufacture) and no emulsifiers or stabilizers are used other than egg yolks, and has a high butterfat content. Häagen-Dazs is also meant to be kept at a temperature that is substantially lower than most ice creams in order to keep its intended firmness. It is sold both in grocery stores and in dedicated retail outlets serving ice cream cones, sundaes, and so on.

A majority of the permanent flavors offered by the company include chocolate in one form or another, though there are vanilla-based blends as well.

Häagen-Dazs is owned by General Mills. [http://www.generalmills.com/corporate/company/Haagen-Dazs.aspx General Mills] . Retrieved on 08 October 2008]

In North America, the brand is owned by Nestlé. [http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2003/06/23/daily32.html Nestlé takes over Dreyer's] . Retrieved on 25 June 2003] [http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/26/deals/icecream/ Nestlé scoops up Häagen Dazs] . Retrieved on 26 December 2001]

Name

Contrary to appearances, the name is not Scandinavian; it is simply two made-up words meant to look Scandinavian to American eyes (in fact, the digraphs "äa" and "zs" are impossible in all Scandinavian languages). This is known in the marketing industry as foreign branding. Mattus included an outline map of Scandinavia on early labels, as well as the names of Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm, to reinforce the Scandinavian theme. A name was created by reversing the name of Duncan Hines ("Huncan-Dines"), an original potential marketer of the product. When that deal didn't materialize the name was manipulated to sound Scandinavian.

The playful spelling devices in the name invoke the spelling systems used in several European countries. "ä" (an 'a' with an "umlaut/diaeresis") is used in the spelling of the German, Estonian, Finnish, Slovak and Swedish languages, doubled vowel letters spell long vowels in Estonian, Finnish, Dutch, and occasionally German; and "zs" corresponds to IPA|/ʒ/ (as in "vision") in Hungarian. None of these spelling conventions is used in pronouncing the name of the American product, which has a short "a", hard "g", and a final "s" sound. The closest real name to the fake Häagen is Hagen (Danish/Norwegian/German surname, German first name, and German town name). Dazs does not mean anything even in Hungarian despite the "zs" grapheme, does not have any meaning, and sounds too unfamiliar even to be a name. The closest real word in Hungarian is "darázs", which means "wasp".

A further step in branding is the renaming of the Teatro Calderón in Madrid, Spain to "Teätro Häagen-Dazs Calderón". [http://www.teatrohaagen-dazs.es/ The theater page] . Retrieved on 13 February 2007] There is no ä in the Spanish alphabet.

The first order for the Haagen-Dazs containers was filled by Sheldon Klein who was then with Lily-Tulip.

List of flavors

Permanent

*Almond Hazelnut Swirl
*Baileys Irish Cream
*Banana Split
*Belgian Chocolate
*Black Raspberry Chip
*Black Walnut
*Butter Pecan
*Caramel Cone
*Cherry Vanilla
*Chocolate
*Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
*Chocolate Chip
*Chocolate Peanut Butter
*Cinnamon Dulce de Leche
*Coconut Macaroon
*Coffee
*Cookies and Cream
*Crème Brûlée
*Dulce de Leche
*English Toffee
*Lemon Sorbet
*Lychee
*Macadamia Nut Brittle
*Mango Sorbet
*Mango
*Mayan Chocolate
*Mint Chip
*Mocha Almond Fudge
*Mocha Chip
*Peaches and Cream
*Pannacotta
*Pineapple Coconut
*Pistachio
*Pralines and Cream
*Raspberry Sorbet
*Radish and Rice
*Rocky Road
*Rockmelon
*Rich Milk (Japan)
*Rum Raisin
*Sticky toffee pudding (Previously 2006 limited-edition flavor)
*Strawberry
*Strawberry Cheesecake
*Triple Chocolate
*Vanilla
*Vanilla Bean
*Vanilla Chocolate Chip
*Vanilla Fudge
*Vanilla Fudge Brownie (also known as Vanilla Caramel Brownie)
*Vanilla Swiss Almond
*Waffle Cone
*White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
*Green Tea (China, Japan, South Korea, USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore only)
*Azuki (Japan only)

Extras

*Cookie Dough Dynamo
*Sticky Toffee Pudding

Limited edition

*Cappuccino Commotion
*Cappuccino Caramel Truffe (2008— )
*Caramel Apple Crumble
*Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan (2007— )
*Carrot Cake Passion
*Chestnut (Japan only)
*Eggnog
*German Chocolate Cake (2006 and 2007)
*Green Tea (US, China and Japan) (2008)
*Mango & Passionfruit
*Marsala Fig (2006 and 2007)
*Raspberry & Merengue (2008— , available in Brazil)
*Sticky Toffee Pudding (2007— )
*Strawberry Shortcake (2007)
*Sweet Potato (Japan only)
*Tres Leches (2004)
*Vanilla Honey Bee (Spring 2008)

Retired

*Boysenberry (c. 1969)
*Carob (c. 1983)
*Chocolate Swiss Almond
*Honey Vanilla (c. 1989)
*Peanut Butter Vanilla (c. 1989)
*Margerita (c. ???)
*Key Lime and Vanilla (1980s-1990s, included chunks of pineapple)
*Chocolate-Chocolate Mint (c. ???)
*Maple Walnut

Reserve

*Brazilian açaí Berry Sorbet
*Amazon Valley Chocolate
*Pomegranate Chip
*Hawaiian lehua honey and sweet cream
*Toasted Coconut Sesame Brittle
*Pomegranate and Dark Chocolate Bar
*Fleur de sel Caramel

References

External links

* [http://www.haagen-dazs.com Häagen-Dazs official website]
** [http://www.haagendazs.com.br Häagen-Dazs Brazil website]
** [http://www.haagen-dazs.es Häagen-Dazs Spain website]
** [http://www.haagen-dazs.co.uk Häagen-Dazs UK website]
* [http://citypages.com/databank/26/1283/article13472.asp Shenzhen Surprise] from City Pages