15 Crazy Things for Sale at This German Gummy Factory

By Kristy Alpert

Although Charlie’s Chocolate Factory exists only in storybooks, this real-life German gummy factory is the Candyland your inner child has always dreamed existed.

Set in the birthplace of Ludwig von Beethoven, the Haribo Fabrikverkauf (factory) is the birthplace of the world’s first gummy bear, a treat invented by Hans Riegel in the city of Bonn, hence the candy company’s name: Hans Riegel Bonn. The town is now home to one of the world’s greatest candy stores of all time.

On the outside, the building looks like an average supermarket, but you won’t find any eggs or veggies inside this multi-storied gummy haven; the store is filled with rows and rows of rare and hard-to-find Haribo treats, along with a few fan favorites and some seriously funky merch—there’s even an entire wall of mix and match candies to create your own Haribo mix. The company plans to open a similar concept with its U.S. manufacturing facility in Wisconsin in 2020, but for now, this original storefront is the only place to purchase some of Haribo’s coolest sweets and swag. Check out the 15 craziest things for sale at Haribo’s Bonn’s factory store.

Labre Larver 

This bizarre gummy hails from Denmark, where the name translates loosely to “dancing larvae,” although some speculate the candy was named after a cult-classic Danish film from the ’70s of the same name. The “larvae” is a single strip of segmented licorice with a sweet caramel shell and thankfully tastes nothing like the name would suggest.

Drama Llama 

These limited edition gummies are only available while supplies last; a big prob-llama for those that wait! The mix comes with prickly pear flavored cacti, and cool llama faces in a variety of fruit gum and soft marshmallow blended flavors, including raspberry vanilla, prickly pear marshmallow, red grits vanilla, and lemon biscuit.Continue Reading Article After Our Video

Joghurt-Igel 

Hedgehogs (“igels” in German) are a protected species in Germany, and the country has long had an obsession with these tiny creatures. Haribo’s adorable fruity version of the beloved critter comes with a fruit gum exterior and a soft yogurt backing to give them a chewy yet fluffy texture. Flavors include strawberry, cherry, lemon, peach, passion fruit, and blueberry.

Weisse Mäuse 

Although Haribo’s Katz und Mäuse (cats and mice) mix can be found around the world, the elusive white mouse is only found in select stores and at the Haribo factory’s store in Bonn. These little white mice are sold by the bucket, and the fluffy marshmallow creatures have a surprising orange flavor.

Bags of Single Color Gummy Bears 

Ever find yourself picking through bags of gummy bears for your favorite flavor? Dig no more. The Haribo store in Bonn is the only place where shoppers can purchase bulk bags of single flavors. Remember the German flavors and colors are different than the American ones though, and come in six flavors, including strawberry, apple, lemon, orange, pineapple, and raspberry.

Die SCHLÜMPFE 

Based on the Belgian comic strip by Peyo, these little blue creatures have become known around the world as The Smurfs. Haribo sells bags of Smurf gummies in the United States, but the German version comes with an additional flavor, adding lemon to the beloved mix of raspberry and strawberry flavored Papa Smurfs, Jokey Smurfs, and Smurfettes.

Cool Haribo Merchandise 

It’s not just candy inside this behemoth of a candy store. There’s an entire section of the store devoted to wearable, usable, and displayable Haribo merchandise. The store stocks plush pillows in the shape of oversized Color-Rado mix gummies, Haribo umbrellas, Haribo suitcases, Haribo teddy bears, and tons of Haribo clothing, including Haribo boxers and briefs.

Choco Chammallows 

For some reason Haribo’s Chammallow range never took off in America, which is all the more reason to make the trek out to Bonn to stock up on bulk bags of these hard-to-find chocolate-dipped marshmallow candies. These fluffy blocks of marshmallow are given just a “soft kiss” of chocolate for an extra layer of sweetness.

Happy Germany 

This mix of fruity gummies is one of Haribo’s most elusive mixes. At one point, this mix of candy German monument could only be found at Duty-Free stores in German airports, but once production slowed to only a few times a year, even the factory store in Bonn is only able to carry it while supplies last. The lucky few who can get ahold of a bag will discover the flavors of the country with a tasty tour of Germany’s most famous monuments, including Brandenburger Tor, Cologne Cathedral, Neuschwanstein Castle, Frankfurter Römer, Porta Nigra, and Herrmann Monument.

Milchbären 

At first glance it may seem like the milchbären (milk bears), are simply traditional German gummy bears with a milky jacket slapped on the back. However, not only are the flavors slightly different—including lemon, orange, cherry, strawberry, apple, and raspberry—but these bears have actual names. This fruity, creamy crew includes Emma, Emil, Anton, Mia, Ben, and Frieda.

Saure Gurken 

The name translates to sour cucumber, but many refer to these sweet and sour gummies as “das pickle.” Fortunately, no pickle juice is used in creating these sugarcoated candies, as the shape is the only “gurken-esque” aspect of the gummy. Flavors come in strawberry, raspberry, and lemon.

Feen-Flug 

This new creation from Haribo introduces fans to four sweet characters. Feen-Flung (or Fairy Flight in English), includes four enchanting fairies, Frosty Fini is the blue fairy with a raspberry flavor, Lovely Lissi is the red fairy with a cherry flavor, Betty Butterfly is yellow and tastes like peach, and Nini Nature is the green fairy with an apple flavor.

Crazy Python 

Gummy worms and gummy snakes have been around for decades, but these new Crazy Pythons aren’t like anything on shelves before. These long gummies are a blend of chewy fruit gums with a soft marshmallow side to sweeten the deal. Flavors include amazing apple, crazy cola, lucky lemon, paradise peach, royal raspberry, and splashy strawberry.

Salz Brezeln 

It doesn’t get more German than these little gummy versions of everyone’s favorite Oktoberfest street food. Soft, thin pieces of licorice shaped like miniature pretzels take on a salty-sweet composition with a dusting of salted sugar to add a sweet twist to these festive gummies.

Gummy Flamingos 

These popular pink birds made it on shelves this summer, so they’re only available while supplies last. They’ve been a huge hit around the world, and hopefully, they’ll make another comeback this year or next at the manufacturing factory so even more people can enjoy their refreshing blood orange and pink grapefruit flavors.