People are only just realising how to pronounce Haribo – even though we’ve been tucking into the sweets for decades.
Haribo was founded on December 13, 1920, by Hans Riegel Sr. in Bonn, Germany. In 1922, the company founded the iconic gummy bear – little gummy sweets shaped like tiny bears – which quickly proved popular and are now sold all over the world. Haribo named its own version Goldbears to stand out from competitors.
The company started as a small confectionery business and later grew into one of the world’s leading gummy and jelly sweets manufacturers. And as the slogan suggests “kids and grown-ups love it so”, which is probably why Haribo achieved a whopping £270.8 million in revenue in 2023.
So how do you pronounce it? The name “Haribo” is derived from the founder’s name and the city it was founded in: Hans Riegel Bonn. It takes the first abbreviated syllables from ‘Hans’, the source of the ‘ha’; Riegel, which provides the ‘ri’; and Bonn, which gives the ‘bo’.
Even though the company is a household name, people are still saying it ‘wrong’. It is often pronounced as ‘Hair-uh-bo’, ‘Har-bo,’ or ‘Harry-bow’ – but according to QuillBot, the correct way to say it is ‘HA-ree-bo’.
The pronunciation has divided many on social media, with many Brits convinced ‘Harry-bow’ is actually the correct way. They pointed out that this is how it’s pronounced in TV adverts.
On X, previously known as Twitter, one person said: “Just heard someone pronounce Haribo ‘Hareebo’ and now I can’t unhear it”. Another shared an old video of Louis Tomlinson of One Direction fame and said: “I’m obsessed with the way Louis pronounces Haribo”.
Another replied: “That’s how we say it in the U.K! We might be wrong but that’s how the advert tells us to say it – ‘The happy world of Harry-Bow.’”
Another person commented: “I’m German and I love Haribo. But I always say “HarryBoo”,” while a fourth said: “That’s how we say it in Denmark too (the German way) but all English speakers I’ve heard say it like Lou and Li”.
And another said: “That’s how most people say Haribo in England (at least where i’m from)! no one really says Hareebo”. So how do you say it? Let us know in the comments below.