9) Haribo (Germany) $3.18 billion
It began in 1920 when German candy maker Hans Riegel trademarked his company name Haribo.
The name was an acronym for ‘HAns’, ‘RIegel’ and his birthplace ‘BOnn’. After two years he developed a fruit gum candy inspired by the trained bears common in German circuses and festivals.
Later, the bears became the company’s symbol, The Dancing Bear, which we know better as gummy bears.
The gummy bears became popular and remained one of its best sellers. But Hans Riegel would not stop here.
In 1925 he introduced the Licorice Stick and Licorice Wheel, a roll of licorice strip that kids could peel off.
Unfortunately, Riegel died in 1945 leaving everything to his wife until their sons were freed from Allied P.O.W camps and returned to Germany in 1946.
Few years later, the brothers introduced The Golden Bear which replaced the Dancing Bear product as top seller and company icon.
