Producing over 80 million bears every day, Haribo keeps their exact recipe and production method as a closely guarded secret. Many have tried to find out, but few ever have!
In 1920, Hans Riegel, a poor confectionary worker living in Bonn, Germany, decided to quit his job and make hard candies in his own kitchen. His wife would distribute the candies on her bicycle to consumers. Thus, the Haribo company was created. Two years later, Riegel decided to make gummy candies, which were becoming more popular. He chose to make the gummies bear shaped because he realized the company needed a gimmick to get people to buy his product over others. The new gummy bears became an instant hit with children living in Bonn.
The company expanded in the 1930’s, but was devasted in the 1940’s. In the beginning of World War II, the company had over 400 employees making over ten tons of candy each day. But then, Hans Riegel passed away, his sons became prisoners of war, and the company shrunk to only 30 employees. When the war ended, Riegel’s sons revived the company. By 1950, the company had over 1,000 employees and started building factories across Europe. The company entered the market of the U. S. in 1982.
The popularity of gummy candies exploded in the 1980’s. In 1985, Disney created a cartoon called The Adventures of Gummi Bears, which remained in production until 1991. Probably the most familiar animated gummy bear to our generation debuted in 2007. This lovable bear sang the song “I am a Gummy Bear,” which actually cracked a few singles charts. You can watch the music video here!
Although gummy bears have not been around for as long as other candies, their popularity is still off the charts. Gummy bears are a delicious treat that are definitely on the top of my list of favorite candies.
Fun Fact: In 1997, the tobacco executive and head of Phillip Morris Co., James Morgan, claimed that gummy bears are just as addictive as tobacco!
Your blog starts by telling the background information of the founder and the story of how he started founding the company. I feel sad when I read that the founder passed away and the company failed during World War II. The detailed story of how the candy got popular and the effect of Disney movie has on the popularity consistently tell me what makes it popular.
I think this is a really interesting blog, and it was cool to find out the history of Haribo gummy bears. I thought it was even more interesting to find out how World War II negatively impacted the company, and the company made a huge comeback.
I love gummies. Not just gummy bears, gummy worms, gummy sharks, and even those Spongebob style gummy hamburgers. They are probably my favorite candy, not counting any chocolate. I have never known the history of gummy bears, and I didn’t know that the production of gummy bears almost stopped due to WWI. I think that would be a tragedy, however other companies have also started production in creating gummies so maybe they wouldn’t all be gone. It would be interesting to see how the other companies were created – for example, did they steal the original idea or come up with their own?