Among gummies, Gummi Bears are the most popular and well known candies. Gummi bears are rubbery textured, chewy, small and jelly like candies that were first made by Hans Riegel in Germany after the success of his Dancing Bears in the year 1922.

They later became Haribo’s renowned Gold Bears. But owing to their success throughout the world, gummi bears (also spelled gummy bears for those made by Trolli) have become a generic name and there are now many manufacturers of these around the world. But Haribo and Trolli still remain one of the major manufacturers.

The original gummi bears are rubbery gelatin based candies that are available in basic colors such as red, green, yellow, white and orange and come in bear shape. There are also Haribo’s Gold Bears which are still very popular throughout the world. Gummi bears are made from glucose syrup, sugar, gelatin and flavoring agents.

Since they contain gelatin, which is obtained from animals, gummi bears are not suitable for vegetarians and vegans. But there are variations available like bears that use pectin (extracted from vegetables) instead of gelatin. Small gummies which are around 2 cm long are mostly available in single color and flavor. The Haribo bears are available in flavors corresponding to specific colors. They have lemon which comes in yellow, orange which comes in orange color itself, raspberry which is red, pineapple which is colorless and strawberry which is green in color. Trolli has similar flavoring and coloring scheme with the exception of red gummi bear which has cherry flavor and green which is lime.

Haribo gummies are firmer to bite into whereas Trolli gummies are a bit softer and the two differ in their overall feel of effectiveness and strengths of flavors as well.
Gummy bears usually have empty calories but recently there have been variants which are marketed with added vitamins. Since gummi bears can be a concern for dental health, research is on to create gummi bears with xylitol that helps fight cavity.

Almost eighty years down the line, gummi bears are still one of the most popular candies and they sell in great numbers across the world. Gummi bear was probably the first candy to inspire a television cartoon series. Disney came up with Disney’s Adventures of Gummi Bears which aired in the US between 1980’s and 1990’s.
The rubbery, firm chewiness of gummi bears is still irresistible to many adults and kids alike.