Haribo GmbH & Co. KG, doing business as Haribo (German pronunciation: [ˈhaːʁiːboː], English: /ˈhærɪboʊ/ HARR-i-boh), is a German confectionery company founded by Hans Riegel Sr. It began in Kessenich, Bonn, Germany. The name "Haribo" is a syllabic abbreviation formed from Hans Riegel Bonn.^[1] The company created the first gummy candy in 1922 in the form of little gummy bears called Gummibärchen. The current headquarters are in Grafschaft, Germany.^[2][3]

On 13 December 1920, the company was registered in the commercial register by its founder Johannes Riegel. In 1921, his wife Gertrud Riegel was the company's first employee.^[4] According to the company, Riegel's seed capital was a sack of sugar, a copper pot, a marble slab, a stool, a stonewalled stove and a roller. In the same year, he bought a house that was located in the Bonn district Kessenich on a street called Bergstraße. The house was Haribo's first production facility.^[5] Two years after the company foundation, Hans Riegel invented the precursor of the Goldbear, who was still called Tanzbär (Dancing Bear) at that time. However, it was not only bigger than the present gummi bears, but also softer, due to the use of gum arabic instead of the now common gelatine.^[6][7]

In 1925, Haribo began producing licorice products. The sales organization in Germany and the main building of the new production facility were established at the beginning of the 1930s.^[7]

According to the company, production fell immensely during the Second World War, partly due to a shortage of raw materials. In 2000, Haribo was suspected of having employed forced labourers during this war. However, the manufacturer denied this and consequently refused to pay into the forced labour fund.^[8] After Johann Riegel's early death in March 1945, the company was initially continued by his wife. After the sons Hans and Paul returned from captivity in 1946, they took over management.^[9]

Hans Riegel junior represented the company externally, while Paul Riegel headed research and product development and hardly ever appeared in public.^[10] In 1957, Haribo took over the Godesberg company Kleutgen & Meier, where Hans Riegel senior had had his first job. In 1961, Haribo took over Bonera Industrie en Handelsmaatschappij NV in Breda and continued to run it as Haribo Nederland BV.^[11] In the 1960s, a new headquarters building opened in Bonn.^[12]

In 1967, Haribo acquired shares in the French confectionery factory Lorette from Marseille, which was renamed Haribo-France SA. In 1987 it merged with the southern French manufacturer Ricqles Zan to form Haribo Ricqles-Zan with production facilities in Marseille, Uzès and Wattrelos. The company's only small factory museum is also located at the Uzès site.^[13]

In 1968, Haribo bought shares in the Solingen company Dr. Hillers, they took it over completely in 1979. From 1980 onwards, a new production facility was built at the site in three expansion phases. In October 2011, the Solingen location was expanded to include a high-bay warehouse, an office building and a goods handling hall.^[14]

Haribo since expanded its operations, taking over many local confectionery manufacturers around the world. It began international expansion in the 1960s and entered American markets in the 1980s. As of 2013, it operated 16 factories which produce over 100 million gummi bears per day.^[15]

In 1986, the confectionery company Haribo from Bonn bought the production and rights to the Maoam candy^[16][17][18] and Haribo Chamallows (formerly “Dulcia”). The company headquarters was in the Kessenich district of Bonn until 2018; in May 2018 it was relocated to the municipality of Grafschaft in Rhineland-Palatinate. Bonn continues to be a production location.^[19]

In October 2003, Hans Riegel junior announced that one of his nephews, Hans-Jürgen Riegel (* 1956), would be his successor. He managed the company in France until 2005, but then fell out with his uncle and left the company.^[20] Co-owner Paul Riegel died unexpectedly on the night of 3 August 2009.^[21][22]

In April 2018, the company moved its head office from Bonn to Grafschaft. Some factory capacity remained in Bonn.^[12]

Goldbears are fruit gums in the shape of stylized bears, that are two centimeters in size and consist of sugar, sugar syrup, colorants and flavorings. They also contain acidifiers, coating agents, water and a gelatin mixture, which gives the bears their rubbery consistency. Since 1960,^[23] Haribo calls its gummi bears Goldbears, in order to distinguish them from other manufacturers' products. In 2005, Haribo produced about 100 million Goldbears daily in 15 establishments throughout Europe to ensure the distribution in over 100 countries. The Goldbears account for Haribo's largest revenue share. According to the company, their brand awareness in Germany is 99 percent and the Goldbear stands for childlike happiness.^[24]

For the German market, they are colored with natural fruit extracts, in contrast to the use of colorants in the past. Although there are enough possibilities today to create a shade of blue, making the production of blue Goldbears theoretically conceivable, the Haribo management does not want to make any changes to the traditional product.

In August 2007, the product range was partly changed by adding apple as a new flavor and giving it the color green. The strawberry flavor, which was hitherto assigned to the color green, was recolored to light red. Additionally, the shape of the Goldbears was slightly changed, compared to the former generations, by giving them a smiling face.^[25]

Devoted to the UEFA Euro in 2008, Haribo produced Schwarz-Rot-Goldbären: a black, red and yellow Goldbear mix. The mix, which was inspired by the color combination of the German flag, contained the flavors blackcurrant (black), raspberry (red) and lemon (yellow). For the first time ever, Haribo developed black Goldbears, which, besides blackcurrant, also contained elder extract.^{[citation needed]}

On the occasion of the FIFA World Cup in 2014, Haribo produced the Goldbären-Fan-Edition. This mix included gummi bears in cherry (dark red), grapefruit (red), watermelon (green), woodruff (dark green) and apricot (orange) flavor as well as blue Goldbears in blueberry flavor.^{[citation needed]} Included Haribo made a zero sugar version of the gummy bears were discontinued because people got Diarrhea because of maltitol in the candy.

There is a halal version of Haribo Goldbears in various countries (including the United Kingdom); Imported from Turkey where it is manufactured using beef gelatin which is permissible if slaughtered accordingly to Islamic dietary laws which uses the dhabihah method. They have the halal certification on the packaging.^[26]

Haribo entered the UK sweets market by buying Dunhill's in 1992, a manufacturer of liquorice Pontefract cakes which was founded in the 18th century.^[27][28]

Haribo's key brands in the UK are Starmix, Tangfastics, Supermix and Maoam, with Maoam being a brand of chewy sweets being bought in 1986 from Edmund Münster, the manufacturer who originally owned Maoam when it was first launched in Germany back in 1931.^[29][30] 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 company owns seven shops in the UK located in Pontefract, the West Midlands, York, Cheshire, East Midlands, Somerset and Kent.^[31]

Haribo had been imported into the United States since 1982.^[32] In Germany, Haribo was not an exclusive gourmet product, but a mere candy. When Haribo of America was incorporated in the 1980s in Baltimore, Maryland, Haribo's gummi candies were introduced to the US mass market through retailers such as drugstores, grocery stores and discount stores. The packaging was translated into English, and package weights were adjusted to match US candy prices 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.^{[citation needed]}

Sales soared the first year, and gummi bears became so popular in the US that the US market was soon flooded with competitors such as German Trolli and American Black Forest.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Haribo of America moved to the Chicago, Illinois area and established their headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois. On 23 March 2017, Haribo announced the opening of its first US factory, a 500,000 sq ft (46,500 m²), 400 employee manufacturing plant in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, scheduled to start construction in 2020 by Gilbane Building Company.^[33]

In 2023, the US factory went live^[34] and began producing Goldbears. Haribo factories do not give tours.^[35]

Haribo plans to expand to China and Brazil. In China, it has launched test stores in Shanghai and in Guangdong province. New production facilities opened in Castleford, West Yorkshire,^[36] in 2016, and it plans to open in São Paulo, Brazil.^[37]

Haribo's German catchphrase is "Haribo macht Kinder froh – und Erwachsene ebenso" ("Haribo makes children happy – and adults as well").^[38] The German advertisements starred Thomas Gottschalk from 1991 until 2015. In English-speaking countries, it uses the slogan "Kids and grown-ups love it so – the happy world of Haribo".^[39] In Hungary, it uses the slogan "Gyermek, felnőtt kedve jó – édes élet, Haribo" ("Child and adult is happy – sweet life, Haribo"). "Haribo c'est beau la vie, pour les grands et les petits" ("Haribo life is beautiful, for big ones and little ones") is used in France, while in Italy the song used during commercials is: "Haribo è la bontà, che si gusta ad ogni età" ("Haribo is the delicacy that one can taste at any age"). In Turkey, it uses the slogan "Çocuk ya da büyük ol, Haribo'yla mutlu ol" ("Be a kid or a grown up, be happy with Haribo"). In Denmark, it uses the slogan "Luk op for noget godt! Luk op for Haribo! Den er go'" ("Open for something good! Open for Haribo! It is good"). In Spain "Vive un sabor mágico, ven al mundo Haribo" ("Experience a magical flavour, come to Haribo's world") slogan is used. Similar slogans are used in other languages. The Haribo jingle music was created by UK composer Stephen Lee Vickers.^[40]