A recent visit to a Haribo outlet in Portsmouth uncovered five rarely seen products, from new Pixels Zing sweets to mystery boxes and plush toys, offering a glimpse of exclusive items not typically found in supermarkets.
Haribo's history and rare outlet stores
Haribo, now in its 105th year, was founded in Bonn, Germany, and officially registered on December 13, 1920, by confectioner Hans Riegel Sr. He started the business in a tiny backyard kitchen with just a stove, a stool, a marble slab, a copper pot, a rolling pin, and a single sack of sugar. His wife, Gertrud, became the company's first employee in 1921.
Despite Haribo's widespread presence in supermarkets, there are only approximately 25 to 30 official, company-owned Haribo retail and outlet stores worldwide. One of these is located in Portsmouth at the Gunwharf Quays shopping and leisure complex, which the author of this article lives near.
Five standout items at the outlet
The first item spotted was Haribo Pixels Zing, a 140g bag priced at £1.40. These colourful, brick-shaped chewy sweets are inspired by blocky digital pixels and feature a soft, chewy confectionery or marshmallow-like core wrapped in a fruit jelly shell, coated in sugar or fizzy sour powder. Unlike many classic Haribo products, the Pixels line-up is vegan and vegetarian-friendly, using starch and carrageenan as gelling agents. The product is also set to hit Tesco shelves in mid-August 2026.
Another find was the £20 Haribo Mystery Box, a 2.6kg box that contains a minimum of £20 worth of sweet treats, with some 'lucky' boxes worth up to £50 in retail value. Each box includes exclusive Haribo branded merchandise, such as a water bottle, notebook, or novelty item. Typical contents, based on reviews and unboxings, include a massive 1kg bag of a specific variety, international varieties like French or Danish mixes, Frutisma, Soda Twists, or Bella Stix, and standard UK share-bags like Goldbears, Starmix, Tangfastics, and Maoam variety packs.
MAOAM bags, plushies, and advent calendars
Large MAOAM bags weighing 2.2kg are priced at £15.50 and typically contain around 186 individually wrapped pieces, with flavours including Cola, Strawberry, Raspberry, Cherry, Orange, and Lemon. Maoam became part of the Haribo brand in 1986 when the Haribo Group acquired the production rights and ownership from the German confectionery company Edmund Münster GmbH & Co. KG, which had originally launched Maoam in 1931.
Chamallows Mallows plushies were also on display, though the price was not remembered. These are often sold as a novelty Haribo Plush Snack Bag, a giant zip-up plush marshmallow bag containing multiple smaller, removable mini-chamallow plushies. They are also available online through major digital marketplaces, independent gift retailers, and auction sites.
Finally, the Haribo Advent Calendar, priced at £7, was already on sale in August. It contains 24 mini bags and individually wrapped sweets from the worldwide Haribo range, including festive treats like Christmas-Minis, Winterland-Minis, Süsse Weihnachten (Sweet Christmas), Nikolausspass (St. Nicholas Fun), and gingerbread-shaped gummies. The front artwork features a glow-in-the-dark design. These calendars can usually be bought in supermarkets such as Asda, Morrisons, and Iceland when they get their Christmas stock in.
Where to find Haribo outlets in the UK
Haribo operates 13 official retail and outlet stores across the UK, predominantly inside popular designer outlet shopping villages. These include the HARIBO Pontefract Factory Shop in West Yorkshire, HARIBO Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, HARIBO West Midlands Designer Outlet, HARIBO Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, HARIBO York Designer Outlet, HARIBO Ashford Designer Outlet, HARIBO East Midlands Designer Outlet, HARIBO Swindon Designer Outlet, HARIBO Braintree Village in Essex, HARIBO Clarks Village in Somerset, HARIBO Trafford Centre in Manchester, HARIBO Silverburn in Glasgow, and HARIBO Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.
