HipHipHooray for Häagen-Dazs Five and Helping Honey Bees!

In this age of "the New Authentic", where every schmuck is pretending to know the name of their artfully grizzled Brooklyn butcher and his starter hog, it's brazenly uncool to crush on a food corporation.

But crush I have!  I heart Häagen-Dazs.  In particular, I heart Häagen-Dazs Five.

I first got wind of this on The Food Section, and managed to snag myself a carton at my local A&P. 

Ingredient minimalism is the makeup and namesake; each of the 7 offered HD Five flavors (mint, ginger, vanilla bean, coffee, passion fruit, brown sugar and milk chocolate) contains only 5 ingredients (milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and said-naturally derived flavor). 

I got to try the passion fruit...and it's amazing!

First off, the ice cream itself was supple and yielding to the spoon, with a lush and custardy mouthfeel--a big departure from the petrified pints that we've come to expect from the Dazs. 

It was also far less sweet than your average pint of Dazs, the front-running flavors being clean cream and the tart, tropical fragrance of passion fruit.  It's sunshine churned into dairy!  WHEEE!

The premise is irritatingly on-trend, but it's a quality product nonetheless.  Consider the c*cksucking approval of uppity foodites mere collateral as you contentedly lick your spoon.

One more reason I'm crushing on the Dazs: I heart their Help the Honey Bees campaign.  

Every time you buy a Bee-Dependent Flavor (marked with a black-and-yellow striped heart), HD makes a donation to honey bee and sustainable pollination research programs at the University of California, Davis and Pennsylvania State University, who are working to stem the tide of Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.

As annoyingly treehugging as it sounds, it warms my cockles when a large business like this manages to connect the dots: 

No bees --> No fresh fruit and honey --> No premium ice cream for big companies, small companies, you, me, or grizzled butchers from Brooklyn. 

Hate on corporations all you want, but this isn't a localvore issue, it's a continental food issue, and it's heartening when a international brand like Häagen-Dazs throws its weight around in a good way.  Go get you some feel-good frosty treats. 

Comments

[Laura]

YUM. I will be on the lookout for this. Not sure which to try first!!!!