Katie Piper announces involvement in the Häagen-Dazs Rose Project

On International Women’s Day 2023, Häagen-Dazs launched ‘The Rose Project’, a global initiative with a $100,000 bursary grant (USD) inviting nominations to support unsung trailblazing women in honour of the brand’s unsung female co-founder Rose Mattus. Today, 23 November, on what would have been Rose Mattus’ birthday, Häagen-Dazs celebrates her legacy with the announcement of its shortlist of the Top 50 #WomenWhoDontHoldBack nominees being put forward for their achievements and its five globally accomplished Häagen-Dazs Rose Project judges, which includes Katie Piper OBE, from the UK.

Over 2,500 applications were received for The Häagen-Dazs Rose Project putting forward pioneering efforts and societal contributions made by women across the globe. From these, 50 inspirational women have been shortlisted and will be put forward to win one of five monetary grants of $20,000 (USD), which will be announced on International Women’s Day 2024, to continue their exceptional work, unleash their potential or give to a cause they are passionate about. The top 50 shortlist includes women from 17 countries with 5 nominees coming from the UK with others hailing from across Europe, Asia, Africa & Middle East, Australia and the Americas. Every nominee’s inspiring story can be found at https://iwd.haagen-dazs.global/en/ and on Instagram @haagendazsroseproject.

An all-female judging panel from across the world has been handpicked for the final selection stage of The Rose Project. Inspirational, passionate and representative of the global nature of the project and the brand, the judges will work together to select 5 worthy honourees from the Top 50 list, who have followed their own trajectory of significant trailblazing achievements and epitomise the Häagen-Dazs ‘Don’t Hold Back’ ethos.

The panel includes UK-based Katie Piper, who is best known for her work as an author, broadcaster and philanthropist. She will sit alongside fashion entrepreneur and advocate for women’s fertility issues, Velda Tan from Singapore, Spanish entrepreneur and creative director Inés Arroyo, community builder and founder of women’s community network, Lady Multitask, Mercedes Palomar from Mexico, and Häagen-Dazs Shops Global Managing Director Aurélie Lory from France.

Katie Piper said: “I am thrilled to be working with Häagen-Dazs. The Häagen-Dazs Rose Project is such a brilliant, purpose-driven initiative supporting trailblazing women across the world, so it’s an honour to be involved. I am immensely proud to work on this next stage of the Rose Project to provide opportunities for talented and inspirational women giving them the recognition they deserve.”

Manchester-born Rose Mattus is one of those indomitable women who stand behind great men without whom their men never achieve their ‘greatness’. While her inventor husband Reuben Mattus made ice cream, it was Rose Mattus who truly made the Häagen-Dazs brand. Sales whiz, marketing maestro, and a true business partner to Reuben, Rose overcame the constraints of being a woman from an immigrant background in the mid-twentieth century and smashed glass ceilings in 1960s’ New York by making Häagen-Dazs a trendsetter prized by ice cream fanatics, marketing a luxury product to an alternate connoisseur crowd with new tastes and preferences. Rose remained an unrecognised hero next to Reuben until International Women’s Day 2023, when Haagen-Dazs proudly honoured her legacy and its roots as a woman-founded business with its renewed commitment to creating opportunities for women through the eponymous Rose Project.