Häagen-Dazs is celebrating its female co-founder Rose Mattus with a global initiative named the ‘Rose Project’ on International Women’s Day, to mark her unsung contributions to the iconic brand.
Rose Mattus was the business brain and marketing pioneer behind making Häagen-Dazs famous, however she remained relatively uncredited compared to her husband Reuben who is largely heroed for the iconic recipes and creation.
The Rose Project, an initiative honouring Rose’s legacy, has pledged $100,000 in bursaries to support remarkable women around the world.
People across the globe will have the opportunity to nominate unsung women (or even themselves) who deserve recognition for their trailblazing efforts, achievements and societal contributions.
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To honour Rose Mattus’ efforts, Häagen-Dazs is launching a global rebrand with ‘Rose Mättus Woman Founded Business – Established 1960’ to accompany the Häagen-Dazs logo in its global stores and on social platforms.
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’re passionate about.
“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,” global brand experience director at Häagen-Dazs, Clare Brosnan said.
She added: “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.
“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.
“We hope that Rose Mattus’ story inspires talented and often unsung women to share their own and also put others forward for the grants,” Brosnan commented.
It comes as Häagen-Dazs has launched their new ‘Start-Up Innovation’ challenge, which aims to explore the potential for innovation in technology and ingredients, with a focus on increasing its sustainability potential.
