[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.

[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.

[7] According to the company, production fell immensely during the Second World War, partly due to a shortage of raw materials.

[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.

In October 2011, the Solingen location was expanded to include a high-bay warehouse, an office building and a goods handling hall.

[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.

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.

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.

[28] 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.

They also contain acidifiers, coating agents, water and a gelatin mixture, which gives the bears their rubbery consistency.

In 2005, Haribo produced about 100 million Goldbears daily in 15 establishments throughout Europe to ensure the distribution in over 100 countries.

In August 2007, the product range was partly changed by adding apple as a new flavor and giving it the color green.

[34] Devoted to the UEFA Euro in 2008, Haribo produced Schwarz-Rot-Goldbären: a black, red and yellow Goldbear mix.

The mix, which was inspired by the color combination of the German flag, contained the flavors blackcurrant (black), raspberry (red) and lemon (yellow).

[citation needed] A zero sugar version of the gummy bears was discontinued because people got diarrhea because of maltitol in the candy.

[citation needed] There is a halal version of Haribo Goldbears in various countries (including the United Kingdom) which is imported from Turkey, where it is manufactured using beef gelatin which is permissible if slaughtered accordingly to Islamic dietary laws which uses the dhabihah method.

[35] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

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, which started construction in 2020 Gilbane Building Company.