To be honest, I don't know the first time I learned about Haribo Goldbears; they have just always been around.
Growing up and now, Haribo is my family's gummi bear of choice, especially my father's. Even though this sweet treat has always been around, I can't believe they have been around for 100 years.
Hans Riegel created the first gummy candy in 1922 in the form of bears in a small kitchen in Bonn, Germany.
The name Haribo came from an acronym made up of the founder's name, (HA)ns (RI)egel, and the place the company was born, (BO)nn. The acronym takes the first two letters of all three words to create Haribo; pretty creative if you ask me.
These gummi bears were the precursor of what the Goldbear would become and were called Tanzbar, which means Dancing Bear. So if you are looking for an important piece of candy trivia, it doesn't get much better!
Gertrude Riegel, his wife, worked alongside him as the company's first employee delivering orders to clients using her bike and this was the start of a very successful family business**
In 1945 after her husband and creator of the company died, Gertrude took over the operations for a brief period until her sons, Hans Riegel Jr. and Paul Reigel, took over in 1946.
Under their guidance in 1960, the Goldbears were born and got their official trademark in 1967. In 1978 the Goldbears changed their shape to better-fit customers' aesthetics, and in 1989, new colors were added to the gummi bear family.
The German Confectionery company started its international expansion in the 1960s and entered the American market in the 1980s. The gummi candy category was never the same as few manufacturers could match their creativity or unwavering attention to detail.
They now have their global headquarters in Grafschaft, Germany, and because of their large US fan base, they have a headquarters based in the US.
Here's another fun candy trivia fact - Haribo is the world's leading manufacturer of gummy products, the Goldbears being what they are most well known for. They produce over 100 million gummi bears per day at their 16 production sites in 10 countries.
Their slogan is "Kids and Grown-ups love it so - The Happy World of Haribo." Their motto comes to fruition every time I bite into a Haribo product because they are delicious.
The Goldbears, their most popular product, and my favorite are fruit gummies shaped like, you guessed it, bears.
To distinguish their product, Haribo decided to call them Goldbears and they are the "gold standard" by which all gummi candies are compared!
They typically come in bags containing their flavors of Raspberry, Pineapple, Strawberry, Orange, and Lemon, but they have added more to celebrate significant events.
In 2007 to celebrate the gummi bear's 85th Birthday, they were given a new flavor, Apple, and new festive branding.
To celebrate their 100th Birthday, Haribo's going even bigger with a year-long celebration!
For the 100th Anniversary Haribo Goldbears, Haribo came out with some special limited edition flavors such as single flavored bags of the Pineapple Gummi Bears, which were highly requested since they are a fan-favorite flavor.
The other single flavored bag they came out with was Blue Raspberry, their brand new flavor. Additionally, they released another unique flavor, Watermelon, much to the delight of their loyal fan base!
If that isn't enough, they are also holding sweepstakes to thank all their Haribo fans for their love and support over the last century.
Haribo has gone from a recipe made in a small kitchen to a global success story.
Their iconic gold packaging, adorable perfect, tasting gummi bears, and successful family business story have taken the world by storm.
I love them, my Dad adores them, and I bet you do. So Happy 100th Birthday Haribo and please join us in celebrating through their delicious limited-edition bags.
Share with us your favorite Haribo memories below to enter into a contest where you can win an assortment of all of the 100th Anniversary Goldbear Flavors!
**At CandyFavorites, we represent McKeesport Candy Co., a third-generation business approaching its 95th year, and take great joy in offering a candy that has been around since when we opened our doors and whose quality has never wavered.
Sources:
https://www.haribo.com/en-us/news/haribo-releases-new-flavors-limited-edition-shapes-for-100th-birthday-of-iconic-goldbears-gummies
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/haribo-releases-new-flavors-limited-edition-shapes-for-100th-birthday-of-iconic-goldbears-gummies-301454797.html
https://www.haribo.com/en/about-us/history
