Häagen-Dazs
Super-premium ice cream sold in pints and scoop shops worldwide. People buy it for density, short ingredient lists and a European-luxury feel.
Status: Watchlist
- Founded
- 1960
- Website
- icecream.com
- HQ
- USA
- Manufacturing
- USA,France,Japan
- Ownership type
- Conglomerate subsidiary
- Parent
- General Mills
- Acquired
- 2001
- Status since
- 2026-10-30
Ownership
Pillsbury bought the business in 1983 and General Mills acquired Pillsbury in 2001. In the US and Canada the brand is made and sold under license, by Nestlé until December 2019 and by Froneri since.
Why Watchlist
Häagen-Dazs is a coined name, and in a 1980 lawsuit the company said its carton carried a map of Scandinavia. The ice cream was started by Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx in 1960. A federal court held that Häagen-Dazs packaged its product to give a Scandinavian impression "although it too is, in fact, of domestic origin", and its US site now calls the name "a playful made-up name".
Reversibility
What would change our verdict
Not applicable: the name is the claim. The row records the origin story, not the product quality.
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