Rose Mattus was the Co-Creator of Haagen-Daz ice cream. With her husband, Reuben, they turned a family owned ice cream business in the Bronx into a national brand with the invented name Haagen-Dazs, passed away in Westwood, N.J. She was 90 years old. Around 1960, while sitting on their couch in the Bronx, Mr. and Mrs. Mattus fabricated the foreign-sounding name. In the company's early years, Mrs. Mattus, the company's controller, built the business by going to bodegas and grocery stores to offer free samples. By 1983, when Haage-Dazs was acquired by Pillsbury for $70 million, the company had a strong presence in supermarkets, a coast-to-coast string of franchise ice cream shops and sales of about $115 million a year. It is now owned by Nestle. "Reuben was a true dairy expert, a bug about quality. Rose basically ran the business, holding the company together and making it possible for a dreamer like Reuben to be successful. "At the time, most supermarket ice cream was made with artificial flavoring and nonfat dry milk, while Haagen-Daws used egg yolks and real ice cream, as well as ingredients like Belgian chocolate, vanilla beans from Madagascar and coffee from Colombia.
Cause of death was not immediately available. Mr. Reuben passed away in 1994.
Cause of death was not immediately available. Mr. Reuben passed away in 1994.
Rose Mattus was the Co-Creator of Haagen-Daz ice cream. With her husband, Reuben, they turned a family owned ice cream business in the Bronx into a national brand with the invented name Haagen-Dazs, passed away in Westwood, N.J. She was 90 years old. Around 1960, while sitting on their couch in the Bronx, Mr. and Mrs. Mattus fabricated the foreign-sounding name. In the company's early years, Mrs. Mattus, the company's controller, built the business by going to bodegas and grocery stores to offer free samples. By 1983, when Haage-Dazs was acquired by Pillsbury for $70 million, the company had a strong presence in supermarkets, a coast-to-coast string of franchise ice cream shops and sales of about $115 million a year. It is now owned by Nestle. "Reuben was a true dairy expert, a bug about quality. Rose basically ran the business, holding the company together and making it possible for a dreamer like Reuben to be successful. "At the time, most supermarket ice cream was made with artificial flavoring and nonfat dry milk, while Haagen-Daws used egg yolks and real ice cream, as well as ingredients like Belgian chocolate, vanilla beans from Madagascar and coffee from Colombia.
Cause of death was not immediately available. Mr. Reuben passed away in 1994.
Cause of death was not immediately available. Mr. Reuben passed away in 1994.
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