Häagen-Dazs’ over the world – the success of its implantation in China
- Juliette Delquignies
- Sep 27, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2021
Over the years, Häagen-Dazs has expand around the world. It is now present in 50 countries with more than 900 Häagen-Dazs shops over North America, Europe and Asia, and the brand is developing rapidly in the Middle East, India, Latin America, and Africa. According to General Mills, the owner of Häagen-Dazs since 2001 (shared with Nestlé), the key ingredient of the brand’s success is its continued innovation. Let’s focus on the Chinese implantation of Häagen-Dazs. Three main success factors can be argued.
Deep understanding of the market
Before expanding to China, the brand conducted deep market research. They quickly realized that they would need to adapt in order to maintain the quality of ice-cream the expect. First, they could not work with local distributors since they did not have the necessary infrastructures (refrigerated trucks, for instance), and secondly, they needed to import their products from France because the industry in China did not make subpar ice-cream that meet the brand’s requirements. Even if this strategy implies a huge raise of transportation cost, it was also a good opportunity considering the culture of Chinese population. Indeed, Chinese consumers tend to believe in the higher quality of foreign made products.
Innovation
To succeed on the Chinese market, Häagen-Dazs adopted a strategy of adaptation in order to meet the local requirements rather than a global strategy.
First, the brand launched its moon cakes, which are consumed during China’s mid-Autumn festival. This product enabled Häagen-Dazs to rise its sales
by 25% every year.
As in most countries, Häagen-Dazs introduced a large variety of specific flavors, such as Green Tea. In contrast, you can find Rosé flavor in France.
To finish, the brand reinvented the traditional hot pot of China, offering a platter of fruit, ice-cream, and cakes to share with friends. This product was a success for Häagen-Dazs.
Brand image management
The brand decided to enter the market as a luxury product, which was a very consistent strategy. Instead of selling their products in supermarkets, they opened cafés in upmarket areas to make it more premium. Indeed, by the time they studied the market, Chinese consumers tend to spend their money and be showy about it. They consider it has an opportunity to charge a premium to the consumers. They made the consumption of their ice cream an experience by closely tailoring the cafés.
Finally, they used celebrity endorsement for TV ads during live events, which is very powerful in China.
From the success story of China, we see that Häagen-Dazs is very carefully considering and studying each market it expands in. The brand puts as a priority the management of the brand image and values, and the strategy is adapted to each market.
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