Haribo is a German confectionery company, founded in 1920 by Johannes Riegel, Sr.
Haribo is headquartered in Bonn and the name is an acronym for Hans Riegel, Bonn.
Haribo made the first gummy candy in 1922 when Hans Riegel, Sr. made the first Gummibärchen.
After Hans Riegel, Sr. died during World War II, his son, also named Hans Riegel, took
over the company.
Haribo expanded its operations, taking over many local confectionery manufacturers in
countries all over the world.
Haribo is one of the biggest manufacturers of gummy and jelly sweets in the world, with
its products mainly consisting of gummy bears, other jelly sweets and liquorice.
The company has five factories in Germany and 13 throughout the rest of Europe, and
sales offices in almost every country in Europe, as well as in the United States and Australia.
Slogans Haribo's German catch phrase is Haribo macht
Kinder froh – und Erwachsene ebenso, and in English-speaking countries, it uses the
slogan "Kids and grown-ups love it so – the happy world of Haribo".
The German advertisements have been voiced by Thomas Gottschalk since 1991.
Slogans used in various languages around the world seem to be variations on the same theme,
written to rhyme in most languages.
Slogans around the world include: Key brands
Haribo's key brands in the UK are Starmix, Tangfastics, Supermix, and Maoam, with Maoam
being its own line of chewy sweets.
They were once the distributor of Pez products in the United Kingdom, but this is no longer
the case.
Haribo makes Pontefract Cakes at their factory in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and other locations.
The Fraise Tagada is one of the best-selling varieties in France.
Products UK products:
Chamallows Cola Twist
Dominion Mallows Fantasy Mix
Farmyard Friends Fizzicles
Fizzy Cola Fizzy Sea World
Football Mix Fruity-Frutti
Funny Mix Games Mix
Gold Medals Goldbears
Happy Cola Heart Throbs
Hearts and Rings Jelly Babies
Jelly Beans Jolly Jungle
Juicy Goldbears Liquorice Favourites
Mallow Mania Milkshakes
Minions Pinballs
Pinballs with blue pinballs Pontefract Cakes
Smurfs Sour Cherries
Sour Strawbs Starmix
Starmix with Bluebears Strawbs
Supermix Tangfastics
Tangfastics with Watermelon slices Tropifrutti
Winegums Yellow Bellies
US Products: Hanging Bags
Rattle-Snakes Frogs
Clown Fish Mini Rainbow Frogs
Jelly Babies Fruity Pasta
Happy Cola Sour S'ghetti
United States presence
Haribo had been imported into the United States for many years by German food importers and
sold at German and other gourmet stores at "gourmet prices", mostly in bulk.
At home in Germany, Haribo was not an exclusive gourmet product, but a mass market candy.
When Haribo of America was incorporated in the 1980s in Baltimore, Maryland, Haribo's
gummy candies were introduced to the US mass market through drugstores, grocery stores,
discount stores, etc.
The packaging was translated into English, and package weights were adjusted to match
U.S. candy price points and package sizes.
A laydown bag was developed for the US supermarket trade, instead of the hanging bag commonly
found in German supermarkets, and a boxed product was developed for theaters.
Once this was done and Haribo products in US-style packaging were introduced at confectionery
and fancy food shows, Haribo became a popular item.
Sales soared the first year, and gummy bears became so popular in the US, Haribo in Germany
could not supply enough product, so the US.
market was soon flooded with German competitors such as Trolli, Black Forest, and others.
The Landesmuseum Koblenz created a traveling exhibition about the history of Haribo in
2006.
Criticism Haribo was accused of using Jewish forced
labor in its factories during World War II, but denies it.
Additionally, Haribo has come under fire for their sugarless Gold Bear variety which contains
the sugar substitute Lycasin, which has shown to cause severe intestinal distress in those
who consume significant amount of the product.
Many humorous reviews of this product on the Amazon.com website have gone viral.
References
External links Official website