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became a 51-percent shareholder in MIC, and Martin’s interest was
reduced to 49 percent. At no time did Arnold or Martin have an
employment agreement with MIC.
In 1974, Ruben Mattus (Mr. Mattus), the founder of H�agen-
Dazs, asked Arnold to use his ice cream marketing expertise and
relationships with supermarket owners and managers to introduce
H�agen-Dazs ice cream products into supermarkets. H�agen-Dazs
manufactured an entirely new range of “super-premium” ice cream
products that were differentiated from the competition by both
higher quality and higher price. H�agen-Dazs had initially
marketed its products to small stores and restaurants for single-
serving on-premises consumption. H�agen-Dazs had made only
minimal inroads into the supermarkets, and now Mr. Mattus wanted
to intensify his marketing efforts in that sector. Mr. Mattus
asked for Arnold’s help because he had been unable to convince
the supermarkets to carry his products; they saw super-premium
ice cream as too expensive for a retail setting designed for off-
premises consumption.
Arnold, as the first distributor of H�agen-Dazs ice cream to
supermarkets, sparked a revolution in the retail sale of ice
cream. Arnold and H�agen-Dazs tapped a hitherto hidden demand
for a super-premium ice cream in supermarkets by consumers who
were willing to pay higher prices for higher quality. By the
late 1970's, MIC was distributing ice cream products, including
H�agen-Dazs ice cream, to four major supermarket chains,
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