Me-Too Gummies

Malaysians are such copycats. While we are by far not the worst infringers of copyright in the world, we are definitely up there when it comes to riding off someone else’s commercial success. The most innocent of these are the generic me-too products which just look the same, but bear no branding, or at most, just a small type written sticker stating the manufacturer and distributor. 

The worst are the ones which try to make a buck off a well-known brand, with packaging similar to that brand’s and even a brand name which can befuddle the slightly less informed shopper. My most recent experience was when thoughts of Kit’s good friends from England, Robert and Rachel Arney, drove me to search for Haribo gummies. 

Both Rob and Rach are big sweetie fans, and Rob has been known to scarf up a packet of Haribo gummies in one work day. My stroll down the confectionary aisle at Tesco Shah Alam (by the way, did you know that Tesco will be pulling out of Japan?) saw Haribo gummies, right aside Harico gummies. 

Haribo is a German confectionery producer, founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel Sr in Bonn, Germany. The brand name was coined from the first letters of the founder’s name and the city Bonn. After Hans Riegel Sr. died during World War II, his son, also named Hans Riegel, took over the company. Haribo expanded its operations by taking over many local sweet manufacturers in countries all over the world.

Today, Haribo is the biggest manufacturer of gummy and jelly sweets in the world, with its products mainly consisting of Gummi Bears, other jelly sweets and liquorice. There are five factories in Germany and 13 throughout the rest of Europe.

Harico, on the other hand, is brand under the Lot 100 umbrella, which also specializes in gummy candies. It was the pioneer of the mango gummy (an admittedly revolutionary product for the Malaysian sweet market), and is almost, in my opinion, head to head with Indonesian gummy giant Yupi, when it comes to product line.

The owner of the Harico and Lot 100 brands is Cocoaland Holdings Berhad, a Malaysian confectionary company which Fraser & Neave (F&N) has a ‘small’ RM8.04 million investment in. 

A side by side comparison of Haribo and Harico show the same use of colour and illustrations, with a leaning towards cartoon art. Package sizes are the same, as is the weight of the product.  The price is the all distinguishing factor, with Haribo averaging about RM7 a packet and Harico at RM3.50. 

I’m not a huge gummy consumer, but I found Harico gummies to be pretty decent, though I was hoping for a bit more kick to the sour variety I bought. Sugus has a sour variant of gummies, and they are really tart and crazily addictive. 

Having had Haribo however, I must say there is a distinct difference in the texture of the gummies, with Haribo being less pectin hard and ‘set’, and with a subtler, more comprehensive palate range. Next time the Arneys come to call, I’ll blind test them and see what they say. 

Meanwhile, if anyone from Cocoaland is reading this, me and my superior palate are ready for a Consultant Taster job!