'King of gummy bears' dies aged 90
Until a few months ago, 90-year-old Hans Riegel went to his office at the Bonn-based candy maker almost every single day. Thanks to him, the small family business became an international enterprise.
Taking charge
Johannes Peter Hans Riegel was the eldest son of Haribo founder Hans Riegel senior, who died in 1945. Just one year later, his sons Hans, 22 years old at the time, and Paul, 19, took over the family business.
Humble beginnings
A candy maker by trade, Hans Riegel senior started the business in 1920. Haribo is an acronym for his name: Hans Riegel Bonn. According to company records, he launched his firm with just "a bag of sugar." By the start of World War II, Riegel had 400 employees.
A success story
His sons managed to build on their father's success and Haribo quickly expanded in Germany and across the globe. Today, the company has about 6,000 employees. Annual turnover in 2011 amounted to about 620 million euros ($841 million.)
The star
The gummy bear is the Bonn sweets maker's most famous product. Hans Riegel senior invented the bear in 1922, and sold the candy under the name "dancing bear." The name was changed to gold bear in 1967. More than 100 million tiny bears are produced daily and sold in over 100 countries.
Badminton and chestnuts
Hans Riegel junior was responsible for distribution and marketing. In 1953, he built Bonn's first badminton court, which is still in use today - the Haribo Center. He also continued a marketing idea that goes back to his father: in the fall, children exchange chestnuts and acorns by the sackful for Haribo sweets - one kilogram of gummy bears for 10 and respectively five kilograms of nuts.
Marketing coup
"Kids love it so" - that was the company's catch-phrase since 1935. Hans Riegel junior eventually added "and grown-ups too" to the slogan. Arguably, his biggest marketing coup was choosing highly popular German TV host Thomas Gottschalk as the brand's "face" in Germany.
Still a family enterprise
Riegel controlled the company's fate until the end. After his brother Paul died in 2009, he shared Haribo's operations with his nephews Hans Arndt Riegel and Hans Guido Riegel, thus assuring continuity in the family-run company.