Cycle 14 – Item 167

21 (Wed) June 2023

(Rot + Rosa + Grün) Goldbären

3.5

by Haribo

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

with W and IZ

Goldbären – known generically as “gummy bears” – is a brand of gummy candy produced by German confectionary company Haribo.  The company didn’t invent gummy bears but globalized them, now arguably the world’s leading producer, at least in terms of brand recognition (don’t know about sales).  When launched in 1922, candies were originally called “Gummibärchen (gummy bear cubs),” but Haribo changed the name in 1960 to “Goldbären (gold bears)” to avoid confusion with competitors products.

DID YOU KNOW: “HARIBO” is a portmanteau of the founder’s name “HA-ns RI-egel” + the name of the city where it was founded “BO-nn.”  

Although I don’t like sweets, I’ve always loved gummy bears since I was a child.

When we moved to Korea from the States – in 1985, before gummy candies of any kind had been introduced to the local market – I was allowed to pack a 10-pound bag of gummy bears (purchased at Price Club, a former competitor of Costco).  I attempted to ration out the supply, like 10 pieces a day, though I usually succumbed to temptation, so the stockpile didn’t last very long.  I started with the red ones (best), then green (great), white (good), orange (okay), and lastly yellow (eh).  Towards the end, by the time only orange and yellow were remaining, the candies were getting stale – this was in 1985, before ziplock bags or any such food storage products were available in Korea – but it didn’t matter.

Until preparing this post, I’d always believed that Goldbären came in 5 colors/flavors: red/cherry, green/apple, white/pineapple, orange/orange, yellow/lemon.  But no, Goldbären comes in 6 colors/flavors: red/raspberry, pink/strawberry, green/apple, white/pineapple, orange/orange, yellow/lemon.  I had noticed, vaguely, that some of the reds appeared at times to be a bit lighter in hue, but assumed it to be a trick of the lighting – they actually look kinda dark orange; the raspberry and strawberry flavors are similar enough that I hadn’t detected the subtle variance, though obvious now when tasting them side by side.

These days, when sharing with IZ, I get red (rot), pink (rosa), and green (grün), and he gets white (Weiss), orange (orange), and yellow (gelb).

(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)