Reuben Mattus

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Reuben Mattus (born January 8, 1913 in Poland , † January 27, 1994 in Deerfield Beach , Florida ) was an American entrepreneur . In 1961, the son of Jewish-Polish immigrants founded the Häagen-Dazs ice cream company with his wife Rose .

Life

In 1936 Reuben Mattus married Rose Mattus, b. Vesel (born November 23, 1916 in Manchester, England, † November 28, 2006 in Westwood, New Jersey). Rose gave up her job as a seamstress and followed Reuben into his family business. From now on they were selling ice cream together from a horse and cart in the Bronx . This business grew over the next 40 years. In 1959, Reuben decided to found a new ice cream company called "Häagen-Dazs". He wanted to give himself the image of a Danish manufacturer and even printed a Danish map on his boxes. Rose wrote in her autobiography The Emperor of Ice Cream (2004) that they chose Denmark because the Danes did so much good for the Jews in World War II. The ice cream was made with real cream and natural flavorings. In 1961, your competitors mostly only had simple ice cream with artificial ingredients. Rose sold the ice cream and Reuben developed the new flavors. At first the product was sold primarily to students. Therefore, the first sales outlets were near New York University and in Greenwich Village . The Häagen-Dazs brand grew very slowly in the 1960s, but became known nationwide when the greyhound buses began delivering to the student cities.

In 1983 they sold their company for $ 70 million, but stayed with her as a consultant.

Reuben Mattus last lived in Cresskill , New Jersey , and had two daughters, Doris Hurley and Natalie Salamore.

Web links

  • New York Times obituary for Rose Mattus dated December 1, 2006 (English, with picture)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard D. Lyons: Reuben Mattus, 81, the Founder of Haagen-Dazs. In: New York Times , January 29, 1994, accessed November 17, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Mattus, Reuben
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Poland
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1994
Place of death Deerfield Beach , Florida