The Ultimate Ranking Of Haribo Candies

In 1920, Hans Riegel got into the candy business, and borrowed his name for his new company — Haribo (HAns RIegel BOnn). In 1922, Haribo launched the Dancing Bear gummy, and the rest became a super sweet history or confection. Haribo went on to become a global icon, and perhaps the name in gummies.

The United States had to wait until 1982 to get its hands on a bag of Goldbears, and four decades on, Haribo is thriving with American candy lovers. As of 2024, the brand has 25 flavors on its full-time roster. They come in various shapes, sizes, forms, flavors, and themes. That is a lot of gelatin to wade through, but I sat down to decide once and forever which are the best and which ones deserve a rest, in this ultimate ranking.

Some recommendations are based on first-hand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

It wasn't exactly a process by elimination that got Frogs to this place, but just the fact that they just aren't that lovable. Haribo Frogs have been hopping about since at least 1990, and have proven they have staying power.

I'd rather stay away from them. Their foamy bottoms have both an unappealing texture, and flavor, and the green gummy wasn't much better. For those expecting some sort of green-inspired flavor, you're instead mistreated to an off-putting peach one. Why is that flavor even here, when a Peaches one also exists?

Outside of Starmix, the only other variety bag is Funtastic Mix, which came around in 2021. This bag is a random assortment, with regular gummies sharing space with ones that have foam bottoms.

The shapes run the gamut from turtles, to airplanes, alligators, robots, butterflies, iguanas, and soda bottles, but that's where the fun ends. The flavors aren't easily detectable, and the regular gummies are almost too thick to enjoy eating. The ones with the foam bottoms fared even worse with the taste buds, making me wonder if "Unfantastic Mix" was a more apt name for this flavor.

Two flavors in, and it's already clear that foam-bottom gummies detract from a gummy's greatness. However, I will admit these are not as polarizing as an eating experience as regular sized Frogs and the Funtastic Mix were.

In a bag, there are approximately 85 little frogs standing still, in four flavors — lemon, orange, raspberry, and green-colored strawberry. Those gummy flavored tops hold up their end of the bargain, and while there isn't a ton of a foam bottom to fully sink this product, it still feels like it doesn't belong there.

Haribo Dinosaurs come in three roaring and amusing shapes: stegosaurus, brontosaurus, and tyrannosaurus rex. They also come in an equal number of unusual flavor combinations: banana & strawberry, mango mandarine & melon, and blackcurrant & strawberry.

The bag gives off an odd odor, but luckily the gummies aren't as bad. However, I do often wish banana flavoring in candy would go extinct.

As Haribo introduces new products, it in turn is also adding new flavor profiles to its storied catalog. Unicorn-i-licous joined the team in 2024, bringing the talents of apple, tangerine, banana, blue raspberry, berry punch, and cotton candy into the fold.

While it's nice to see more wild flavors available in the wild, it doesn't mean they're necessarily worth nibbling on. My 5 year old was particularly taken with these gummies' mystical shape, and their attractive colors which glow in the light, but not sure she could properly build a case for why the world really needs cotton candy-flavored gummies.

One of the most disappointing flavors of Haribo has got to be the Rainbow Worms, which crawled out of the ground in 2021. How could that be possible?

In a single worm, black currant, lemon, and strawberry make a harmonic sweet trio, and its promised spectrum of colors is a sight to behold. So what gives? The problem is in the gummy's tough rigidity. The common definition of a gummy worm is a soft, elongated, wigglier version of a gummy bear. These Worms don't fit that bill. It's like a brick wall of sugar. That's fine, it's just not a gummy worm. Luckily Twin Snakes exist to fill that void.

Variety is the spice of life, and Haribo banked on that fact when introducing in 2018Starmix. Inside are a mix of proven winners like Twin Snakes, Goldbears, Happy Cherries, and ones that don't have a home otherwise — gummy rings.

This bag sounds almost too good to be true, but there's one gummy in the pack that sort of sucks the life out of it — Happy Cola. That particular gummy is not for everyone, and its presence here becomes both a distraction in this bag's visual, aromatic, and taste profile. If Happy Cola were swapped out for say Berry Clouds, then maybe these would climb higher in the rankings.

In 2023, on a limited time run, Haribo introduced a Wild Berry variant of Goldbears, Familiar Goldbear flavors like strawberry and raspberry were present, and now sharing space with newbies blueberry, wild cherry, and blackberry. The response went well enough that in 2024, it was permanently added to the roster.

These Goldbears Wild Berry seemed like they'd be a solid addition to the line-up. While they have a super juicy taste that at first was rather welcoming, it eventually proved to be almost too much to "berr." They're a decent candy to try just once, although they reminded me of cough medicine, making it a challenge to have more than a few.

Who knew that a movie tie-in flavor that dropped in 2013 would still be hanging around over a decade later. Yep, right before "Smurfs 2" hit theaters, the film teamed up with Haribo to release Smurf gummies, and today it's still advertising their kind nature.

A bag houses 28 pieces, which means you have a whole village of Smurf gummies to play around with. All have a blue body, with a majority of them topped with an off-white hat. There are a few within the bag with a red hat, to symbolize their leader, Papa Smurf. Thankfully they don't taste like mushrooms, and instead come in the non-offensive flavor combo of raspberry & strawberry.

Cola gummies are the one gummy flavor that require an acquired taste in order to fully enjoy them. If the idea of bubbly soda-like candy doesn't suit your taste buds, then don't bother with them. However, if it's totally your thing, then Haribo's Happy Colas will certainly bring a smile to your face.

Haribo has been "bottling" Happy Cola gummies since at least 1985, and is one of the more recognizable flavors to this day. They have a lovely shape, and an illuminating color scheme, where the shades of yellow and brown blend in a beautiful ombré. While they sadly don't taste like Coca-Cola, Pepsi or perhaps even RC Cola fans can find a familiar flavoring within.

Sometimes the only thing more fun than eating food is playing with it. Perhaps that's the notion that brought Alphabet Letters to stores sometime in the 1990s.

The flavors found within the bag are identical to those of Goldbears: orange, raspberry, lemon, pineapple, and green-colored strawberry. Each random letter piece is almost double the size of a Goldbear, allowing for longer chews, but I found these to be a little tougher to gnaw on. This flavor probably would have also ranked a lot higher if the bag contained more vowels. There's only so many words one can spell with a wealth of Xs, Vs, Qs, and Zs.

We're already established that cola gummies are an acquired taste. If you love it, then indulge, and if not, there's plenty of other flavors to choose from. Well, for someone looking for a happy medium to compromise, Fizzy Cola may be just the ticket.

Fizzy Cola gummies have been around since at least 2002, and are just as "Happy" as the standard issue ones. However, with a mask of fine sugar, it adds a new, likable dimension to them. While they aren't very sour, its coating m definitely helps to make them a more approachable, universal candy to eat.

Rip open a bag of Haribo Peaches, and the immediate smell that seeps out may just overwhelm the consumer before any eating can begin. If you ever wondered what it's like being trapped in a Georgia peach candle, wonder no more.

Alas, this standalone fruit flavor has been a strong favorite of many since it hit shelves by at least 1987. The shape looks more like a heart than a peach, and is decorated with a yellow and pink checkered coat of arms. This sweet treat's true beauty lies in its soft exterior, which gives way to an even squishier inside.

In the summer of 2019, Haribo introduced a gummy to fit the season: watermelon. It also marked the first-ever triple-layered, foam-textured gummy the company released in the U.S.

Outside of perhaps the Happy Cola bottles, no Haribo product closely mirrors the object of its aping than the watermelon is. A lime green "rind" holds in place a thin white layer, and then the red "fruit." Thankfully there's no seeds to discard in sight. Covered in sugar crystals, it allows for a bit of shimmering, which gives off the illusion they are a juicy and succulent treat. It adds up to a fun fruity flavor that slightly edges out its older brother peach.

Berry Clouds look and sound like a dream, and thankfully have a taste to back it up. This triple-layered candy launched on National Candy Day in 2022, and has quickly found a fan following. These fluffy cloud shaped candies come in blueberry, strawberry, and the purple-colored wildberry (I guess they couldn't license "snozzberry" from Willy Wonka as a fourth flavor).

While I usually find the foamy marshmallow-like bottom of gummies to be a distracting drawback, here it helps to solidify its appeal. It doesn't hurt that the minuscule coating of sugar adds a fun texture layer when biting down on the more softer innards.

Sour Patch Kids originated in the 1970s, and have yet to be topped in amazingness as a gummy overly-coated in sugar, and packing its promised sourness. Sour Goldbears seemed like a no-brainer product for Haribo, but somehow only joined the family in 2014.

It's almost unfair to compare these to Sour Patch Kids, as they can't even remotely stack up to the king, but as a sour take on Goldbears, they are a very solid variation. While they aren't all that sour, and the sugar slightly masks each one's signature flavor, they are still a joy to chew on. Their added rigidness allows for them to hang around the mouth longer, proving their worth.

Haribo Smurfs proved to be Smurfastic enough that a sour version dropped in 2014. The same decent raspberry and strawberry flavors made their way to this new alternative flavor, but the sugar coating here adds a new wrinkle to help elevate it a bit more than the original.

With fun character shapes, and a longer bite, Sour Smurfs are actually a slight step up from Sour Goldbears. Goldbears are so great that they don't need to be made sour. They actually lose a bit of their flavor in that sugary conversion. The opposite is true with the Sour Smurfs, and even Gargamel couldn't keep himself from their tasty magic.

If the physical entangled mess of Sour S'ghetti is not exactly your cup of tea, consider the more organized, and structured flat strips of Sour Streamers as a qualified alternative. This flavor, which was introduced in 2019, comes in a special trim bag, which could easily get lost on a shelf alongside its label mates.

The four flavors within this slim bag are sour blue raspberry, sour cherry, sour orange, and sour apple. Their actual sourness is a level below Sour S'ghetti, and a step well above all the other so-called "sour" ones on the roster, making it good for second place in the tart department.

Haribo Berries are a bit of an anomaly as gummies. They don't really seem to belong on a shelf amongst the other Haribo bags that are filled with more translucent, squishy, and colorful gummies. At first glance, these tactical black and raspberry red candies look a bit intimidating, like if gum drops had the detailed bony shell of an armadillo.

Turns out, its hard, bumpy coatings are the real draw here for this flavor. Each tiny circular bit contains a crunch that's akin to chomping on Nerds, and it pairs rather nicely with its soft gelatin filled underbelly. For even more fun, mix these in with a bag of Fruit Salad.

Ginger-Lemon is not a flavor often seen in stores, It started making the rounds in Europe and Asia in 2011, before hitting U.S. shores a year later.

Turns out that this flying under the radar Haribo flavor is one of the most unique of them all. It's also one of the only ones to contain actual ingredients to enhance the flavoring: ginger extract and lemon juice. While this gummy leans more on its ginger flavor, the lemon still shines through as a bit of zest. This candy could even double as a cough drop or digestive, and has a lovely curious taste that lingers long after it's actually been digested.

Everyone enjoys a nice healthy salad, and the "Fruit" one Haribo has had in its line-up since at least 1996 can certainly pass as healthy... sounding. A bag of haribo Fruit Salad Includes such ripe market fresh items such as cherries, oranges, peaches, lemons, grapefruit and a green-colored passion fruit.

It's actually those latter two, unconventional flavors, that stand out in the bag, and help to make it a winner. The gummies try their best to mimic the actual fruit shapes, which makes them a plumper, and better version of standard sugary fruit slices.

Cherry is one of the great artificial flavors found in candy. There's a reason why the red Starbursts are many people's go-to. Haribo's gummy take dates back to at least 1983, and were originally named Twin Cherries to denote its appearance of a green stem holding a pair of conjoined cherries. After Twin Snakes came into the picture in 2015, within a year, these candies were renamed Happy Cherries.

Regardless of what they're called, they are straight-up excellent gummies. While the Twin Snakes thrive a bit better with a more diverse array of flavors, one can't be too upset with this bag filled with a fruit that looks straight out of Pac-Man. Chomp!

If there was a gold standard flavor for the entire Haribo line it would obviously have to be the gummy bears that go by the name Goldbears. The name Goldbären (Goldbears) only came about in 1960, and its sleek modern shape finalized in 1978.

In a bag, five very familiar favorite flavors are ripe for the picking: orange, lemon, pineapple, raspberry, and a green-colored strawberry. While all can be enjoyed individually, with their perfectly soft chewiness, Goldbears are perhaps best enjoyed by the handful, as if you were eating popcorn. Speaking of, there is perhaps no better movie candy than gummy bears. They're long lasting, and mess and noise-free.

Out of all the Haribo "Sour" candies, the only one that is truly sour are Sour S'ghetti. It's packaging isn't lying when it states is contents contain "Z!NG."

This flavor has been around since 2000, and its package also is decked out with a super hungry, fork-wielding monster mascot made up of these stringy strawberry, blueberry, green apple, and watermelon gummies. He looks a bit off, but after indulging in head-sweat inducing delights that stretch close to 3 inches, I can certainly agree with his overly excited assessment of their awesomeness. Also, with approximately 125 pieces per bag, it's easily the best bang for your Haribo bucks.

After bears, worms are probably the most widespread shape of gummies the world over. While Haribo does have a worm flavor on its roster, it isn't all that wiggly or delicious. Essentially, Twin Snakes, which were introduced in 2015 as a next level version of its previous Rattlesnakes product, are Haribo's stand in for gummy worms, with a truly yummy twist.

Two is always better than one, and a pair of these gummy snakes are conjoined. One snake has a sweet flavor and the other sour. Combos like Cherry & Orange, green Apple & Lemon and Blueberry & Blackcurrant are not only juxtaposing-ly fun to eat, the gummies themselves are entertaining to seperate by pulling them apart. Technically, 15 come in a bag, but split in two, that number doubles one pleasure with the best flavor Haribo has to offer. Give a kiss to the hiss!

This ranking of Haribo candies took into consideration the 25 permanent flavors currently available for retail sale as of December 2024. Any limited time only flavors were not considered for this ranking. All 25 flavors were provided by the manufacturer.

I held a taste testing event with a group of people. Members of this group tasted each flavor and gave their feedback on them, eventually singling out their favorites, and least favorites. I took their thoughts into consideration, and did a separate, second taste test on my own to finalize the rankings. Criteria included chewiness, size, shapes, number of pieces per package, sense of fun, uniqueness, lovability, and the likelihood to want to eat that flavor again and again.