Haribo Korea gives new meaning to country's bear market

Haribo, the world's largest fruit gummy brand, will establish a corporation in Korea and enter the Asian market. The German brand is expected to make aggressive investments in line with the explosive growth of the gummy market in Korea..

Haribo's signature teddy bear-shaped "Gold Baren" gummies [HARIBO]

Haribo, the world’s largest fruit gummy brand, will establish a corporation in Korea and enter the Asian market.

The German brand is expected to make aggressive investments in line with the explosive growth of the gummy market in Korea, and use Korea as the bridgehead to accelerate its expansion in the Asian market.

“We plan to establish Haribo Korea at the end of the year,” said a Haribo spokesperson on Wednesday. Haribo has reportedly set up an office in Yangjae-dong of Seocho District, southern Seoul, and is in the final stages of establishing a corporation in Korea.

Haribo’s strategy is to stick its No. 1 position in the gummy market in Korea through the establishment of this corporation. Previously, Haribo has operated from an Asia-Pacific branch in Singapore to look over the Asian market including Korea, Japan and China. Korea is the first Asian country in which the company is establishing an independent corporation.

Haribo Korea will set up a professional marketing and sales team to fully take on the Korean market, according to the company. Haribo Korea plans to launch products and promotions specifically targeting Korean customers.

Distribution is expected to continue to be done by Samkyoung Plaza even after the establishment of the Korean corporation. Samkyoung Plaza has been the official importer of Haribo gummy products since 2016.

“There will be no change in our partnership with Samkyoung,” said the spokesperson from Haribo. “We expect that the cooperative relationship will be strengthened centered on the Korean office.”

Haribo chose Korea as its base for the Asian region as an overwhelming portion of Haribo's market share is in Korea. Haribo has held the biggest market share for gummies every year since 2016. As of last August, Haribo's market share in Korea reached 43.4 percent, followed in second place by Orion’s Maigumi at 13.3 percent, and Trolli, another German brand, at 10.3 percent. The size of the gummy market in Korea expanded from 69.3 billion won ($48 million) in 2013 to 300 billion won last year, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation.

The demand for gummies has increased due to people craving more snacks as they spent more time at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the subsequent popularity of gummy, or "jelly," mukbang on YouTube. Various forms of gummies, such as those modeled after picked radish and pork belly — popular food items in Korea — have also captured the hearts of young Korean consumers.

Chewing gum's popularity has been replaced by that of other chewable, gummy products for awhile now, as the size of the chewing gum market has significantly decreased in recent years. According to BGF Retail, the sales ratio of gum products, compared to other gummy snacks, at CU convenience stores decreased from 23.4 percent in 2019 to 17 percent in 2020 and 13.7 percent in 2021, while that of gummies increased from 52 percent in 2019 to 54 percent in 2020 and 58.1 percent in 2021.

This trend was mirrored in sales from GS25 convenience stores, operated by GS Retail, where the sales ratio of gum in 2019 decreased from 20.4 percent in 2019 to 11.5 percent in 2022, while that of gummies increased from 42.9 percent in 2019 to 47.9 percent this year. Sales of chewing gum products by Lotte Confectionary, which has the largest market share in the domestic gum market, decreased from 173.3 billion won in 2019 to 118 billion won last year.

The outlook for gummy products is also looking good. While chewing gum is cost-effective since it can be chewed continuously and is relatively cheap, industry analysts say that the higher the income level, the lower the sales of gum.

“Per capita gummy consumption in Asia including Korea is still relatively small compared to that in Europe and the United States,” said an industry insider. “So there is greater growth potential.”

As gummies have been emerging as a snack for both children and adults, various functional gummy products, such as hangover-relieving gummies and gummy vitamins, are also being introduced to the country, and the market is expected to grow even more.

Founded in 1920, Haribo is a global company that celebrated its centenary just two years ago. It has been run by the family of the founder Hans Riegel for three generations. Haribo has 16 factories in 10 European countries including Germany, and employs about 7,000 people with sales of 3.6 trillion won in 2019. The signature teddy bear-shaped “Gold Beren” gummies are produced at rates of 160 million pieces per day.

BY JEONG SAE-HEE [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]