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How are gummy bears made?
Every gummy bear starts as a carving by an artist and ends as a hot syrup poured into a tray of powder. Here is how gummy bears are made, why their backs are flat, and how the first gummy bear was born in Bonn.
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Gummy bears are made in a surprisingly simple looking way: poured into shapes pressed into trays of powder.
The recipe
The traditional gummy bear is made from sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, food colouring, citric acid and gelatine. Higher quality gummies have gelatine as the lead ingredient. Recipes vary, though, with versions made for vegetarians or for religious dietary laws: see gelatine in sweets explained
How they are made
- Carve the bear. The original design for each sweet is carved into plaster by an artist, then copied by machine to make the stamps for the production line.
- Print the moulds. A starch mogul stamps the bear shape into trays filled with powdered starch: see what is starch moulding?
- Pour. The hot, liquid gummy mixture is poured into the hollows.
- Set. It is left to cool overnight.
- Release. Once set, the bears are lifted out of the starch and packed.
Why the backs are flat
The starch moulds are open on top. The bear is stamped into the powder from above, so only its front is formed, and the back, where the mixture meets the air, sets flat.
Chewy or short
The gelling agent changes the bite. Large sour gummy bears are flatter and softer and include fumaric acid or other acids for sourness, and some makers produce sour bears based on starch instead of gelatine. Starch typically gives a shorter texture, a cleaner and less chewy bite, than gelatine: see starch jelly sweets explained
From Bonn to the world
Hans Riegel started Haribo in Bonn in 1920. In 1922, inspired by the trained dancing bears once seen at street festivals and markets, he invented the Dancing Bear, a small, affordable, fruit flavoured gum sweet, much larger than its later successor. During Germany's hyperinflation, Dancing Bears stayed affordable at one pfennig a pair. Their success led to Haribo's Gold Bears in 1967. The original gummy bears were made with gum arabic, which is where the name gummy comes from: see why are gummy bears shaped like bears?
Our pick and mix includes golden bears, halal golden bears and vegan gummy bears.
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For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
How are gummy bears made?
A hot mixture of sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, colouring, citric acid and gelatine is poured into bear shapes stamped into trays of powdered starch. It cools overnight, and once set the bears are lifted out and packed.
Why are gummy bears flat on the back?
Because the starch moulds are open on top. The bear shape is stamped into the powder from above, so only the front is formed and the back, the open surface of the mould, sets flat.
What makes some gummies softer or shorter?
The gelling agent. Some makers produce sour bears based on starch instead of gelatine, and starch typically gives a shorter, cleaner, less chewy bite than gelatine.
Sources
- Gummy bear, Wikipedia
- Gummy candy, Wikipedia
- Starch mogul, Wikipedia
- Haribo, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- Questions people askWhy are gummy bears shaped like bears?Because of the trained bears once seen at European street festivals. Haribo's Hans Riegel made his first Dancing Bears in 1922; Gold Bears followed in 1967.
- How it is madeWhat is starch moulding?Starch moulding shapes jelly sweets in trays of cornstarch: shapes are pressed in, hot syrup poured in, moisture drawn out, and the starch reused.
- Diet, allergens and labelsGelatine in sweets explainedGelatine gives gummies and marshmallows their texture, and it melts below body temperature, which shapes how they feel in the mouth. Who avoids it.
- Questions people askAre gummy bears made from pigs?Many are. Classic gummy bears get their chew from gelatine, and most gelatine comes from pork skin, bones or cattle hides. Some bears use plant gels.
- Questions people askIs Haribo made from pig?Standard Haribo Goldbears are made with pork gelatine, so they are not vegetarian, halal or kosher. Haribo makes halal and kosher versions.
- Questions people askWhat does Haribo stand for?Haribo stands for HAns RIegel BOnn: the first two letters of the founder's first name, surname and home town. The story behind the name.