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HARIBO (Iron & Honor)

Most people don’t know this…

Haribo wasn’t born in a candy factory filled with joy and color.
It was born in post-war Germany, out of hunger, collapse, and the need to rebuild something small when everything else was gone.

In 1920, just after World War I, Germany was shattered. The economy was broken. Food was scarce. Jobs were unstable. People weren’t looking for luxury — they were looking for something affordable, comforting, and reliable.

A former candy maker named Hans Riegel started working out of his kitchen in Bonn. He had no factory, no capital, and no workforce. His first tools were simple: a copper kettle, a marble slab, and a rolling pin.

From that setup came something new.

In 1922, Riegel created a small, chewy candy inspired by trained dancing bears seen at festivals. He called them “Dancing Bears” — soft, gelatin-based sweets that were cheap to make, easy to store, and affordable for everyday people.

He named his company HARIBO — a contraction of his name and hometown:
HAns RIegel BOnn.

Then the world collapsed again.

World War II devastated Germany. Factories were destroyed. Sugar was rationed. Production stopped. Hans Riegel died in 1945, leaving the company on the brink of disappearance.

What happened next is the real story.

Hans Riegel’s sons returned from Allied prisoner-of-war camps and rebuilt the company from nothing. With limited resources and a shattered infrastructure, they restarted production one small batch at a time.

They focused on one thing: consistency.

Same texture.
Same flavor.
Same price.

In a country rebuilding itself, that reliability mattered.

As Europe recovered, Haribo expanded quietly. No flashy innovation. No reinvention. Just relentless focus on making the same product, the same way, at massive scale.

The Dancing Bears became Gummy Bears.
Factories grew.
Distribution spread.
And a post-war survival candy became a global phenomenon.

Today, Haribo sells billions of gummy candies every year across more than 100 countries. But its DNA never changed.

It wasn’t built on indulgence.
It was built on resilience.

Haribo exists because people needed something small, affordable, and dependable in a time when nothing else was.

This is the real story of how a kitchen experiment survived two world wars and became one of the most recognizable candy brands on Earth.

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IRON & HONOR — The Stories of How We Were Built

Iron & Honor uncovers the hidden grit behind brands, inventions, and systems forged under pressure. From post-war kitchens to global factories, we tell the stories most people never hear.

If you’re into:
• post-war rebuilding
• industrial food history
• brand origin stories
• resilience through collapse
• everyday products with serious beginnings

You’re in the right place.

Follow Iron & Honor for the stories of how we were built.

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KEY TOPICS IN THIS VIDEO:

• Haribo history
• gummy bear origin
• post-war Germany
• Hans Riegel
• industrial candy production
• brand resilience
• European rebuilding

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