Häagen-Dazs to honour unsung female founder on International Women’s Day

DUBAI: Reuben Mattus made the ice cream, but Rose Mattus made Haagen-Dazs.

This International Women’s Day, in support of the theme ‘Embrace Equity’, Häagen-Dazs will proudly celebrate its pioneering female founder with a global initiative to shine a light on her unsung contribution to the brand and her #DontHoldBack ethos.

Häagen-Dazs, a global iconic brand with over 800 shops in more than 40 countries, will offer on March 8 — in selected geographies — its biggest free scoop giveaway, which will be the first of its kind as a global shops initiative.

Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream will be renamed to the ‘Founder’s Favourite’, in recognition of Rose’s life-long love of the iconic original flavour since 1960!

The ‘Founder’s Favourite’ will be offered as a free scoop to consumers to mark the International Women’s Day in over 100 selected Häagen-Dazs shops across Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.

In Dubai, enjoy a free scoop at the participating shops in Circle Mall, Dubai Hills, Dubai Mall, Kite Beach, Mall of the Emirates and Silicon Central on March 8.

A global rebrand honouring Rose’s contribution will see ‘Rose Mattus — Woman Founded Business Established 1960’ accompanying the iconic Häagen-Dazs logo across multiple touch points in shops and on digital and social platforms.

The campaign marks the launch of ‘The Rose Project’, an initiative honouring Rose’s legacy, which pledges $100,000 in bursaries to support trailblazing women around the world who ‘Don’t Hold Back’.

People around the world will have the opportunity to nominate themselves or other unsung women who deserve recognition for their trailblazing efforts, achievements and societal contributions.

From these nominations, a shortlist of 50 ‘Women Who Don’t Hold Back’ will be selected for their commendable efforts and put forward for the opportunity to win one of five monetary grants of $20,000 each.

The bursary fund will enable these five Rose Project honourees to continue their exceptional work and unleash their potential or even give to a cause they are passionate about.

Aurélie Lory, Franchise Managing Director at Häagen-Dazs Shops, said: “In 2021, we launched our Women Who Don’t Hold Back campaign, shining a light on female trailblazers around the globe, but now it’s time to recognise our own remarkable female founder. Reuben Mattus made our flavours but Rose Mattus made us famous! By telling Rose’s untold story as a marketing pioneer who built our brand as a true partner to her inventor husband and helped create our shops business with her daughter Doris, we hope to use this year’s IWD celebration as a beacon for #EmbraceEquity. Furthermore, Rose’s beloved vanilla flavour will be celebrated in shops around the world with our biggest global ice cream scoop giveaway so that everyone can enjoy our iconic ‘Founder’s Favourite’.

“We hope that Rose Mattus’ story inspires talented and often unsung women to share their own and also put others forward for the grants. The launch of The Rose Project directly puts our purpose to action with the long-term commitment to supporting women and gender equity going well beyond International Women’s Day.”

Nominations for The Rose Project are open and can be submitted via https://iwd.haagen-dazs.global/.

A limited-edition run of 1960 Häagen-Dazs ‘Founder’s Favourite’ vanilla take-home pints has been created with a commemorative Rose Mattus design. The pints will be available in all celebrating shops around the world across the month of March.