Frusen Glädjé was a company that made premium

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

for the American market, founded in 1980 by Richard E. Smith. Although the ice cream was made in the U.S., it used a quasi-

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

name: (), without the

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, is Swedish for "frozen happiness". After being sold several times, the brand is no longer in use.

History

Frusen Glädjé was produced at a Dairy Lea plant with special equipment and sold in 10 states in 1981, including New York and California. Frusen Glädjé was available in eight flavors (15 in the New York shop). Frusen Glädjé was distributed in every state by the end of 1982, reaching an annual production of 30 million pints, up from 18 million in 1981. Erhard Sommer was the company president. The brand's marketing materials called it " e ice cream that appeals to the sybaritic buyer with a taste for the very finest." Television commercials typically featured the catch phrase, "I ate all the Frusen Glädjé." Another catchphrase used was "Enjoy the Guilt", which appeared in print advertising and also on small crystal ice cream bowls, which were available via mail order from the company.

Conflict with Häagen-Dazs

Another American ice cream producer,

Häagen-Dazs Häagen-Dazs ( , ) is an American ice cream brand, established by Reuben and Rose Mattus in The Bronx, New York, in 1960. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, Ne ...

, sued unsuccessfully in 1980 to stop Frusen Glädjé from using a "Scandinavian marketing theme". Häagen-Dazs's complaints included Frusen Glädjé's "prominently displayed list of the product's natural ingredients, a list of artificial ingredients not found in the ice cream, directions for serving and eating the ice cream (essentially that it was best served soft), and a map of Scandinavia". The court ruled against Häagen-Dazs on the grounds of

unclean hands Clean hands, sometimes called the clean hands doctrine, unclean hands doctrine, or dirty hands doctrine, is an equitable defense in which the defendant argues that the plaintiff is not entitled to obtain an equitable remedy because the plaintif ...

, as Häagen-Dazs had similarly marketed itself as Scandinavian (specifically

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) without having any real connection to the region.

Acquisition by Kraft Foods

In 1985, Smith sold Frusen Glädjé to

Kraft General Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

. A Kraft spokeswoman states that Kraft sold its Frusen Glädjé license to the

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

corporation in 1993. A spokesman for Unilever claims that Frusen Glädjé was not part of the deal. The brand has since disappeared, although in 2016 a trademark for "Frusen Glädjé" was filed by Papilion, LLC.

References

External links

1987 Frusen Glädjé television commercial

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Frusen Gladje 1980 establishments in the United States Companies established in 1980 Ice cream brands Kraft Foods brands

History

Conflict with Häagen-Dazs

Acquisition by Kraft Foods

See also

References

External links