Haribo GmbH & Co. KG (, ; stylized in all caps) 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]
History
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 Kessenich district of Bonn, on a street called Bergstraße. The house was Haribo's first production facility.[5]
Two years after the company's founding, Hans Riegel invented the precursor of the Goldbear, which was still called Tanzbär (Dancing Bear) at that time. However, it was not only bigger than the present gummy 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 sons Hans and Paul returned from captivity in 1946, they took over its 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, in 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, eventually taking 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 has 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. In 1986, the company bought the production and rights to the Maoam candy[15][16][17] and Haribo Chamallows (formerly "Dulcia"). As of 2013, it operated 16 factories which produce over 100 million gummy bears per day.[18]
The company headquarters remained in the Kessenich district of Bonn until, 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]
After the relationship with his nephew broke down, Hans Riegel decided to leave the question of succession open. This led to a conflict between the Haribo family tribes, as Paul Riegel's sons pursued a complaint to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry that had been initiated by their father in the summer of 2008 to clarify the legal issues. After their temporary suspension, an overall amicable solution was finally developed and presented in 2010.[22] Haribo-Holding GmbH & Co. KG was then re-established. The Paul Riegel Family Holding and the Hans Riegel Holding, which were newly founded for this occasion, each have a half stake.[20][22][23] At the same time, two intermediate holding companies were created below the new parent company to bundle the German business on the one hand and the international business on the other. Hans-Guido (* ~1966), Paul Riegel's son from his first marriage, became, like his father, managing director for production and technology alongside his uncle Hans, who continued to look after marketing and sales. Hans-Arndt (* ~1968), Paul Riegel's son from his second marriage, took over the chairmanship of a new four-member supervisory board.[20][22]
Hans Riegel died during recovery following the removal of a brain tumour on 15 October 2013. His position was filled by the Hans Riegel Foundation, which was created in 1987 and is now headed by Reinhard Schneider, authorized representative and also a long-time employee of Hans Riegel.[23][25][26]
Present
Haribo employs around 7,000 people at four plants in Germany and ten more in other European countries. As of June 2003, Haribo products were distributed in more than a hundred countries. In 2008, the Federal Cartel Office initiated proceedings against the company and other confectionery manufacturers for illegal price fixing.[27] In 2012, the Federal Cartel Office imposed a fine of a total of 2.4 million euros on Haribo and a responsible sales employee. The reason was anti-competitive agreements with competing companies in which information on negotiations with retailers were exchanged.[28]
Relocation of the company headquarters
Since 2005, there has been public speculation about the company's plans to relocate the Bonn location with its 1,300 employees because expansion are no longer possible there. The Rhineland-Palatinate town of Gelsdorf (community of Grafschaft) and its North Rhine-Westphalian neighboring town of Rheinbach were discussed as new locations.[29]
Goldbears
Goldbears are fruit gums in the shape of stylized bears, that are two centimetres in size and consist of sugar, sugar syrup, colourants and flavourings. They also contain acidifiers, coating agents, water and a gelatin mixture, which gives the bears their rubbery consistency. Since 1960,[32] Haribo calls its gummy bears Goldbears in order to distinguish them from other manufacturers' products. In 2005, Haribo produced about 100 million Goldbears daily in 15 factories 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.[33]
For the German market, they are coloured with natural fruit extracts, in contrast to the use of colorants in America. Although there are enough possibilities today to create a shade of blue, making the production of blue Goldbears possible, 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 flavour and giving it a green colour. The strawberry flavour, which was hitherto assigned to green, was recoloured to light red. Additionally, the shape of the Goldbears was slightly changed, compared to the former generations, by giving them a smiling face.[34]
UK presence
Haribo entered the UK sweets market by buying Dunhill's in 1972, a manufacturer of liquorice Pontefract cakes which was founded in the 18th century.[36][37]
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 original manufacturer when it was launched in Germany in 1931.[38][39] 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, Kent and Hampshire.[40]
US presence
Haribo had been first imported locally in Hawaii and California in 1972, but between 1977 and 1979 it was later officially expanded nationwide.[42][43] 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 sizes. A laydown bag was used for US supermarkets, instead of the hanging bag commonly found in German supermarkets, and a boxed product was developed for theaters.
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.
In 2015, Haribo of America moved to Chicago 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, Gilbane Building Company started construction in 2020.[44]
International distribution
Haribo plans to expand into China, where it has launched test stores in Shanghai and Guangdong province. New production facilities opened in Castleford, West Yorkshire.[47]
In 2016, the company opened its first factory outside Europe, located in Brazil.[48]
Slogans
Haribo's first slogan was in German: "Haribo macht Kinder froh" ("Haribo makes children happy").[49] Different slogans are used across the world. They are sung to a jingle in the company's advertisements.
External links
References
- Emma Roberts. Why is Haribo Called Haribo 21 July 2018, retrieved 6 January 2021^
- Dan Myers. 5 Things You Didn't Know About Haribo Gummy Bears The Daily Meal, 6 November 2015^
- Milestones throughout Haribo's unique success story Haribo