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© History Oasis
For Hans Riegel Sr., watching dancing bears entertain children at German festivals sparked an idea that would delight generations.
This is the history of gummy bears.
December 1920. A small kitchen in Bonn, Germany. Hans Riegel Sr. had a sack of sugar, a copper pot, and fierce determination. He registered his company and called it Haribo. It was a combo of his name plus his hometown.
His wife Gertrud became employee number one. She delivered hard candies by bicycle while Hans experimented in their makeshift lab. It was a classic startup story. Humble beginnings, family teamwork, big dreams.
But Hans wasn't satisfied with making ordinary hard candies. Something was missing.
In 1922, inspiration struck. Those melancholy dancing bears at European festivals—what if he could capture their charm in candy?
Hans created the Tanzbären, or Dancing Bear. These weren't today's gummy bears. They were bigger, softer, and made with gum arabic instead of gelatin. But they had magic. They brought joy.
This simple innovation created the world's first gummy bear. Hans had no idea he'd just launched a candy revolution.
The 1920s brought rapid growth. Dancing Bears evolved into cuter Teddy Bears. The company expanded to 400 employees. Hans Jr. was born in 1923, followed by siblings who would shape the company's future.
The family created their first slogan: "Haribo macht Kinder froh"—Haribo makes children happy. Not just marketing. Their mission.
Then WW2 struck. Production nearly ceased. Raw materials vanished. In 1945, Hans Sr. died at 52. Gertrud held the company together until Hans Jr. and Paul returned from prisoner-of-war camps in 1946.
What happened next shows the power of family business. Starting with 30 employees, the brothers rebuilt their father's dream. Hans Jr. handled marketing and sales. Paul mastered production. By 1950, they employed 1,000 people.
In the 1960s, they introduced the Goldbear. Gone were the original Dancing Bears, replaced by colorful, gelatin-based treats we know today. In 1975, they trademarked "Gold Bears" globally.
American expansion reads like a business school case study. Initial imports to Hawaii and California in the early 1970s led to nationwide distribution by 1982. Haribo adapted everything—packaging, flavors, bag shapes—for American tastes.
Perfect timing. Disney's "Adventures of the Gummi Bears" premiered in 1985, transforming gummy bears from candy into cultural icons. Though Disney's show had no Haribo connection, it made gummy bears part of American childhood.
Success breeds competition. Albanese Confectionery emerged in 1983, claiming "World's Best Gummies" with 12 unique flavors. Trolli brought creativity with sour variants and wild shapes. Jelly Belly added gourmet flair.
Haribo faced its first real challenge. The German giant that created the category now had to defend it.
Hans Jr. ran Haribo for 67 years until his death in 2013. He never stopped improving. He taste-tested products into his 80s, painted blue lines in factories for cleanliness, and expanded globally while maintaining quality.
Smiling faces replaced frowns in 2007, new flavors emerged for different markets, and production scaled to over 100 million bears daily across 16 factories.
Today's gummy bear industry generates billions across hundreds of brands and countless variations. Turkey has denture-shaped gummies. France has Smurf-themed bears. Each market embraced and adapted Hans Riegel's vision.
What started in a Bonn kitchen now spans over 100 countries, employs thousands, and brings daily joy to millions.
In 2022, gummy bears celebrated their 100th birthday. A century after Hans Riegel Sr. first shaped gelatin into bear form, his creation remains wildly popular.
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