Goodbye Häagen-Dazs

The day wasn’t so bad for me, even though it came with a lot of bad news: Death. My Meralco bill—along with the news of another price hike. Now this.
Whenever something bad happens, I try to see something good about it to make me feel better.
I read that Häagen-Dazs is going to leave our country in September.
On the bright side, it’s good because I need to diet. I’m also grateful we were able to enjoy it in our country for a few years, even though I find it severely overpriced.

My favorite flavors are coffee and strawberry. Coffee serves as an instant pickmeup when I feel down, while strawberry brings back fuzzy memories of eating frozen strawberries with Nestlé cream in Baguio.
Every Halloween on my Dad’s birthday, we look forward to an all-we-can-eat Häagen-Dazs cart from Bobet and Ruthy Vera. Guess this year we won’t have any.

I’ve always had this fantasy of eating one pint of Häagen-Dazs coffee ice cream in one sitting because I’ve never done it. Maybe I will do it once and for all before September comes.
When Haäagen-Dazs packs up for good, there’s always that small café in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, right on top of the IKEA store, where I’ve sat down a few times to cool my heels and enjoy some ice cream.
For me there’s nothing like it.

Häagen-Dazs, Pillsbury distributor to halt local sales by September
BY FRANZ JONATHAN G. DE LA FUENTE, Businessworld Online

THE LOCAL distribution arm of food giant General Mills, Inc. has decided to leave the country and bring its brands Häagen-Dazs, Pillsbury and Betty Crocker with it due to the “challenging” business environment here.

“The decision to close our business in the Philippines was made based on its performance over the years.
General Mills’ business in the Philippines has been consistently challenging in all the 12 years that we’ve operated here,” General Mills Philippines said in a statement to BusinessWorld.
“The decision has been made at the highest levels in General Mills after [the] consideration of all options. We simply can no longer sustain our business in the increasingly challenging environment we face,” the company added without elaborating.

By the end of September, General Mills will no longer be taking sales orders for its premium ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs. Häagen-Dazs cafes in Robinsons Place Manila and SM Mall of Asia already closed their doors last June 30; branches in Shangri-La Plaza and Eastwood City are expected to close by the end of August. After those dates, Häagen-Dazs products will merely be sold in retail stores until supplies last, General Mills said.

A separate statement on Häagen-Dazs Philippines’ Web site confirmed this announcement.
Only last year, Häagen-Dazs Philippines—through General Mills subsidiary HD Marketing and Distribution Philippines, Inc.—said it was eyeing the opening of five to 10 more Häagen-Dazs shops in Metro Manila, primarily through franchising partners, earlier stories said.
In addition, General Mills will also halt the sale of its Gold Medal, Green Giant, Nature Valley, Pillsbury, and Betty Crocker food brands beginning September 1.

General Mills’ exit from the Philippines will result in the dismissal of roughly 60 Filipino employees, the company noted. “We will provide our approximately 60 employees with severance packages and outplacement support services,” the firm said.
Source

• Tweet