'A Company Of Lies': This Ice Cream Brand Has Gone Downhill, According To Some Costco Shoppers

Vanilla ice cream has been popular in the United States since founding father Thomas Jefferson had it in France and dubbed it a taste sensation. We can't help but wonder what T. Jeffs would have thought of technicolor Superman ice cream, and we'd love to summon his ghost to voice his opinion on the controversy over Häagen-Dazs. The brand's name has long been considered a byword for quality, and Häagen-Dazs even refers to itself as a luxury ice cream. According to a passel of bad reviews from Costco shoppers, however, Häagen-Dazs may have become a Häagen-Don't-Buy.

"This used to be the one amazing, go-to ice cream bar, but now it's just absolutely terrible," complains one buyer of H-D's Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bars, which are filled with vanilla ice cream and coated in almond-studded chocolate. "I don't know what you guys did, but the chocolate is a complete joke. It's a flavorless, waxy shell with zero taste." Building on that thought, another comment titled their review "Will never buy again. A company of Lies," going on to say, "You have been warned!! These are not the same almond bars that you are used to. [O]bviously some major corporate changes have been made," they said, noting smaller size, scantier ingredients, and lower-quality taste. "The name Haagen Dazs should no longer be trusted considering they are cheating their consumers," they concluded. A third critic predicted that Häagen-Dazs would soon be demoted to dollar stores after being dropped by retailers like Costco. Note that Costco's own Kirkland vanilla ice cream gets largely favorable reviews, so shoppers definitely have options when they crave a sweet treat.

Lest you think that Costco denizens simply have it out for Häagen-Dazs, complaints about possible changes to the ice cream are all over social media and aren't limited to the vanilla bars at Costco. Redditors complained that the cream/milk ratio seemed off in multiple products, making the ice cream much less indulgent. Compiled Trustpilot reviews amount to a low overall score, with many individuals kvetching about smaller containers, as well as reduced taste and mix-in quantities. Meanwhile, on Facebook, a user made some now-familiar accusations of the brand: the price was high, the "luxurious butterfat mouthfeel of yesteryear" was gone, and favorite flavors no longer stood up to great memories.

A writer at Quartz reached out to Häagen-Dazs itself in 2022. As a company representative replied, "We listened to what our Häagen-Dazs ice cream fans wanted, and looked at the recipe last year to further enhance the experience." Allegedly, trademark confidentiality prevented the rep from elaborating as to what precise changes were made, although the canned statement insisted that H-D was still using the same whole ingredients it always had. Speculation was that perhaps Häagen-Dazs had fallen prey to shrinkflation and was possibly using a less-expensive ratio of cream to milk or otherwise cheaping out on ingredients. Declining quality in our favorite brands is always a bummer, but especially when a notable drop-off hits a pricy brand like Häagen-Dazs. Note that many of the disappointed reviews have accumulated in the past six years or so, perhaps marking the point where Häagen-Dazs took a dive.

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