Thaaaaat’s right! It’s time for another round of ‘who does it best’? This week I have American and British Harbio ‘Goldbears‘ to compare!
Haribo ‘Goldbears‘ were created in 1922, albeit in a slightly different form to today’s ‘Goldbears‘. Originally conceived as ‘Dancing Bears‘, the final incarnation of the gummy ‘Goldbears’ arrived in 1978.
Haribo today produce countless lines of gummy, chewy, gelatin-based goodies in all manner of shapes, themes and flavours; ‘Berries‘, ‘Sweet Mice‘, ‘Salted Liquorice Pretzels‘, ‘Gummy Frogs‘, ‘Fried Eggs‘, ‘Chamallows‘, ‘Tangfastic‘ sour mix, ‘Supermix‘ and ‘Starmix‘, foam ‘Strawberries‘ and chewy ‘Strawbs‘…but none are quite as enduring, or as recognizable, as the ‘Goldbears‘.
Now even though the American bag was made in Germany it was produced specifically for the American market; the British bag was made in Pontefract. This means there is one big key difference in ingredients…the British bag contains no artificial colours or flavours, where as the American bag does.
The US ‘Goldbears‘ do state that it too contains ‘natural flavours‘, but it doesn’t go ahead and list them clearly. In comparison, the European gummies are made with fruit juice from concentrate; apple, strawberry, elderberry, orange, blackcurrant, lemon, mango, grape, passion fruit and raspberry. Now doesn’t all that sound much nicer than ‘artificial flavours‘ and ‘Yellow 5‘ and ‘Red 40‘?
It has a big impact on taste, but a smaller difference in their appearance. Most notably the green ‘Goldbears‘ have the most differentiating colours. The EU bear is a suble, muted lime green, whereas the US bear is bright emerald green.
The EU green bear tastes like apple juice, like the stuff you would sip from a wax carton. Whereas the big, bold American green bear tastes like…strawberry…because strawberry things are synonymous with the colour green?
Despite the colour differences, they taste very different. The British ‘Goldbears‘ generally taste more like fresh fruit juice and more ‘realistic’ than the American ones.
The British ‘Goldbears‘ also get an extra flavour in the mix – apple! Pineapple, orange, lemon, raspberry and strawberry are shared between the countries.
The American ‘Goldbears‘ are also a little firmer in texture, but they both provide a great chewy, gummy experience. I don’t mind either texture.
Despite the Americans also being known for their large food portions, it’s actually the European bag that contains the most gummy for your money. At a whopping 175g it dwarfs the US bag (both marketed as ‘share size’ by the way’) at 113g.
In summary, the British version of Harbio ‘Goldbears‘ will give you more chew for your moolah, and will provide a ‘cleaner’ eating experience due to the lack of artifical anything. But if you enjoy a ‘stronger’ and sweeter flavour, and a bit more bite, then choose American ‘Goldbears‘!
The British Candy Connoisseur 