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The History of Haribo Gold Bears
The timeless classic: gummy bears.
One of the most popular candies in the world, it’s kind of odd when you really start thinking about it.
Why do we eat bears in the first place? Even something like Swedish Fish makes more sense because humans DO eat fish. We certainly don’t eat bear meat. So what gives?
The History of Gummy Bears
The history of the gummy bear goes back to 1922 and to a man named Hans Riegel. After working in a candy factory for many years, he was finally fed up with the 9-5 drag. He decided to start his own candy company with help from his wife.
Starting with colorless hard candy, he would eventually move to colored gummy ones. The success locally enabled him to take the show on the road.
To come up with a company name, he combined the first two letters of his name as well as his hometown. Together with “Hans”, “Riegel” from “Bonn”, Germany became HARIBO.
Yes, that Haribo – known for their famous Gold Bears.
How did the Gold Bears come about?
Let there be no mistake, Hans Riegel created the first gummy bear candy. How did he come up with that idea though?
After selling his candies at street fairs across Germany with relatively no success, he decided to create a gelatinous bear to help boost sales.
Bears were common mascots at these kinds of European fairs. Bears (believe it or not) were dressed up and made to dance for the entertainment of children and adults alike. And what better way to get kids to buy your candy then make it similar to one of the world’s most dangerous animal?
Regardless, the Gold Bears idea grew Haribo into the supergiant candy company we know it as today. There were setbacks along the way, but today gummy bears are mimicked by just about every candy company under the sun. None of them quite compete with the original gummy bear – Haribo Gold Bears.
What makes them so good?
Haribo gummies – to me – just have a better consistency than the others. It’s tough, but not annoyingly so. You can still eat handfuls at a time, without the fear of choking (though I don’t recommend it).
The prototype of a gummy candy, Haribo Gold Bears make you kinda work for the deliciousness. Trust me though, it’s well worth it. Gold Bears flavors and colors are as follows (in the US at least):
- Orange = Orange (duh)
- Red = Raspberry
- Green = Strawberry
- Yellow = Lemon
- White = Pineapple
What’s the best flavor? It’s not even a contest for me: white gummy. The rest are still great, but don’t ask me to share if you’ll be taking specific ones out of the bag; the pineapple ones are all mine!
All in all, you simply just can’t beat a classic. I mean it was the FIRST gummy bear for god sake! An easy ZOMG! for me.
Did you also know?
…that 100 million Gold Bears are produced around the world every day? That’s a lot of chewing…
Learn more cool facts about Haribo on their website. Or you can check out my reviews of other Haribo candies. Have you ever had Haribo Sour Gold Bears?