Sweet “happiness”: Gunwharf Quays' latest store, flick through our gallery
Today (7 November) the new Haribo store opened its doors in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth’s smartest shopping outlet.
We went down to see what was going on and spoke to the UK retail manager Rebecca Fox who was down for the day. She was very chatty and said “it’s fantastic to bring the happiness to Portsmouth” and that they had been preparing for “a long time.”
There were queues of 50 people waiting to get into the German gummi store at noon but queues of 100s earlier. Queuers seemed excited, with some there as early as 6am. The first 50 got a free “goodie bag”.
At noon, workers were handing out free MAOAM tasters to “sample the goods.” Nearly everyone in Gunwharf seemed to be wandering around with a shiny red Haribo shopping bag.
People in the queue said that they were “here for Christmas'' and were looking for “stocking fillers.” It took us about 10 minutes to queue, and inside were lots of brightly boxed festive gifts, such as an £8.00 MAOAM advent calendar, an "Advent Tree", £6.00, and a plush cuddly Goldenbear toy, £10.00.
The international “global" section” has the top Haribo from around the world, such as the Danish liquorices, "Schnecken"; bags of "Crocos"; sugar-dusted "Happy peaches"; Italian favourites ‘Tropifrutti’ and the Phantasia bag with flying pigs, jelly bunnies emerging from wizard's hats and something that looks like a werewolf but could be a pumpkin.
They also stocked more novelty items such as mugs, pillows, key rings and much more. There’s a big selection of vegetarian and Halal sweets too.
CLOSE UP – WHAT’S IN THE BAG?
We read the small print to see what’s in a bag of Haribo. It’s quite diverse, including radish, paprika, carrot, beef and beeswax -- almost a healthy meal in itself. This is the full list of ingredients in a bag of Haribo Phantasia:
Haribo Phantasia - Ingredients
Glucose Syrup, Sugar, Beef Gelatine, Dextrose, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid), Fruit And Plant Concentrates (Carrot, Spirulina, Apple, Radish, Blackcurrant, Sweet Potato, Paprika, Tomato, Hibiscus), Flavourings, Palm Oil, Glazing Agents (Carnauba Wax, Beeswax), Caramelised Sugar Syrup (Sugar, Water). This Product Does Not Contain Any Pig Gelatine Or Any Other Pig Based Ingredients. May Contain Traces Of Milk And Wheat.
Note, there is beef gelatine but no pig products in this particular one. So it’s Halal but not Vegetarian.
TRIVIA: DID YOU KNOW?
Haribo was founded in 1920 in Bonn.
The gummi bear has been going since 1922.
Today, they manufacture 100 million goldenbears a day.
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