Haribo Sour Zoo Are A Delight.

If only mammals tasted this good in real life.

Reviewed by Jonny

September 21, 2011

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Haribo is an odd company.  Obsessed with childlike candies, never venturing into the world of adult flavors or different formats, always sticking to the gummies…you’d think they would have flopped miserably by now.

 

But it’s not so, friends.  Quite the opposite.  People around the world know Haribo, whether they mistakenly think that it’s a Japanese company, or they’re in the know and get that it’s all from the Master Race, straight from Germany, yo.  People love Haribo-and with good reason : they understand the allure of candy.  They make like 285 varieties of gummies, all with different shapes, but…not that may different flavors.  Why?  They don’t have to.  Sure, they toss in the occasional mango or  dragon fruit, but ultimately we’re dealing with the same basic flavors again and again.  But that’s cool, because they’re excellent.  Natural or not (who knows, I don’t read German!), they taste correct.  That’s Haribo’s recipe : fun shapes, big color, and familiar excellent flavors.  Here’s the latest entry:

 

Susie, my non-sugar eating-spin instructor-sugar-free candy addict friend from Germany sent these over.  You can’t make that kid of description up, people.  These sat at the bottom of my “to review” box until I saw them hiding in there last week.  Here’s what they look like up close:

 

So realistic, it’s almost like being in the swamp, no?  No?  Agreed.  I’m thinking the green one on the bottom left is a gator, the orange on the bottom right a lion, and maybe the white one is a polar bear aspiring to catch a fish?  These are very important musings to be sure, but after I take an introductory look at a candy…I don’t really care what the shapes are.  Like I said before, that’s for the kids, and while I might be extremely immature, I’m pushing nursing home age, so…wait…what was I saying?  Where are my pants?

 

The texture of these is virtually the same as the outstanding Haribo Fruit Salad.  Not quite a “gummy”, but more of a tough fruit…gel type thing.  Yet firm and chewy.  Very satisfying, very yummy.  the flavors, familiar as always, include apple, orange, lemon, strawberry, and I think pear.  The sour level on them is quintessential Haribo- very sour, very flavorful, and not just a coating of sour sugar : the sour’s cooked in, yo!

 

I eat these the same way I eat Haribo Fruit Salad : way too many in way too short a time.  Highly addictive, I had to shelve the other half of the bag for Matty Guru.  That is, unless he pisses me off before I see him next, in which case Jonny & Jonny Jr. will inhale them.  Fair warning.

 

I’ve searched every candy site I know of, and these just aren’t available for us here in the states.  Even if you DID speak German, the candy packed site of World of Sweets doesn’t even carry them (but it has everything else in the world, so give it a shot if you’re daring), so I’m not sure what to tell you.  Until such time as the Candy Gurus’ dream is realized – a pipeline of ALL varieties of Haribo available to all of us- then we’ll just have to sit tight.  In the meantime, I’ll continue to send Susie weirded out pharmacy procured sugar-free candies in the hopes that she continues to share with us what the fine people of Germany get to see every day, in every corner store.

 

Before we go, a fun fact:

Haribo was founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel Sr. The company headquarters are in Bonn, Germany.

 

“Haribo”  is an acronym for Hans Riegel, Bonn. Ha Ri Bo.

 

Don’t you feel smarterer now?

 

 

 

Zolli Candy

3 Comments

  1. matty

    “The texture of these is virtually the same as the outstanding Haribo Fruit Salad. Not quite a “gummy”, but more of a tough fruit…gel type thing. ” ?

    OFG

    Reply
  2. Susie

    “non-sugar eating-spin instructor-sugar-free candy addict friend from Germany”?

    Definitely need to get some new business cards with that as a title.. 😉

    Reply
  3. Josh

    Sour isn’t overpowering, it’s one of the only “sour” candies I would describe as pleasant. Flavors are awesome, most are natural in European varieties. I’m always annoyed that we can’t get most of their offerings stateside.
    I gotta say that while Jonny is right that they don’t veer too much from the gummy and licorice category (they do that foam stuff too) I say good for them, stick with what you’re good at. They have to be doing something right, it’s estimated that Haribo’s sales are about 1.5 billion annually

    Reply

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