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Haribo, the world’s largest gummy candy manufacturer with 106 years of history, announced the definitive closure of its only factory in Brazil and South America, located in Bauru, in the interior of São Paulo. The unit will operate until July and will then be deactivated, impacting approximately 150 workers. The company states that it will continue to serve the Brazilian market through existing stock, but did not reveal the reasons for the closure. Haribo leaves the South American continent after just one decade.
The world’s largest manufacturer of gummy candies has decided that **Brazil** is no longer worth the investment. **Haribo**, a German brand with 106 years of history and a presence in nearly 200 **countries**, announced the definitive **closure** of its only **factory** in **Brazil** and throughout **South** America, located in **Bauru**, in the interior of **São Paulo**. The **unit** will operate until July 2026 and will then be deactivated, ending a 10-year operation that employed approximately 150 **workers** and was the **company’s** only **production** base on the South American continent.
What makes the case particularly intriguing is the company’s silence on the reasons. **Haribo** did not state what factors motivated the **closure** of the Brazilian **factory**. In a statement, it merely said that “the decision is definitive and will be conducted responsibly, with respect for people and in compliance with legislation.” The **company** promises to continue serving the Brazilian **market** through existing **stock**, but did not explain how long this **stock** will be sufficient or how it intends to maintain a presence in a **country** of 210 million consumers without any local **production**.
What Haribo is and why its departure from Brazil matters
Haribo is the largest manufacturer of gummy and licorice candies on the planet. Founded by Hans Riegel in Bonn, Germany, the **company** carries its origin in its very name: HAns RIegel BOnn. With 106 years of history, the company reports being present in nearly 200 countries, with 16 production units in 11 markets, 73 own stores, and 8,500 employees. The bear-shaped candies, known as Goldbären, are among the most recognized sweets in the world.
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Haribo’s departure from **Brazil** is not just a business decision: it is the abandonment of a **market** that consumes billions in sweets and treats annually. The Bauru factory was Haribo’s only one in all of South America, which means the **closure** eliminates any production capacity for the brand on the continent. The **company** maintains another **factory** in the Americas, in the **United States**, but no industrial operation that can supply South American demand with the same efficiency.
The 150 workers who will be unemployed in Bauru
According to information released by the ndmais portal, the most immediate impact falls on the approximately 150 **employees** who worked at the **Bauru unit**. The company states that production will continue until July, which concentrates the transition in the coming months and gives **workers** time to seek alternatives in the local job **market**. **Haribo** informed that the measure will be conducted “within labor legislation,” without detailing severance pay amounts or outplacement programs.
For **Bauru**, a city in the interior of São Paulo with a diversified economy but dependent on every industrial **job**, the loss of 150 jobs is significant. The factory had been operating for 10 years and represented a foreign investment that brought technology, income generation, and integration into the global supply chain of a centenary brand. The **closure** leaves a void that will hardly be filled by another operation of the same size in the short term.
The promise to supply Brazil through stock and why it’s concerning
Haribo states that it will not stop serving Brazilian consumers even after the factory’s closure. Supply will continue through existing stock, but the company did not inform the available volume nor for how long it will be able to maintain its presence on supermarket shelves without local production. The logic is simple: stocks are finite, and without a factory to replenish them, product availability tends to decrease until it disappears.
The alternative would be direct import from other Haribo factories, such as the one in the United States, but the logistical cost of bringing gummy candies from the northern hemisphere to Brazil could make the product unfeasible in the Brazilian market, where local competitors offer similar items at much lower prices. The promise to maintain presence through stock may, in practice, be a way to gradually cease operations without announcing a complete exit all at once.
The mystery surrounding the reasons for the closure
Haribo did not explain why it closed the Bauru factory, and the absence of justification fuels speculation. Difficulties with the Brazilian tax burden, labor costs, unfavorable exchange rates, and regulatory complexity are factors that foreign companies frequently cite when reducing operations in Brazil, but none of them were mentioned by the company in its statement.
Another possibility is that Haribo is reorganizing its international operations and concentrating production in markets where scale justifies the investment. The company maintains 16 production units in 11 markets, and Brazil, despite being the largest country in South America, may not have generated sufficient sales volume to justify its own factory when the same capacity could be allocated to European or North American markets with higher margins.
What the case reveals about Brazil as a destination for industrial investment
Haribo’s departure adds to other recent cases of multinationals that have reduced or ceased operations in Brazil, raising the question of whether the country offers competitive conditions for foreign industrial production. The world’s largest gummy candy manufacturer arrived, invested, operated for a decade, and decided to leave, and the fact that it did not explain the reasons suggests that the decision was motivated by structural factors that the company prefers not to publicly disclose.
For the Brazilian consumer, the practical consequence is that Haribo candies may become increasingly rare on shelves until they disappear completely. For Bauru’s job market, 150 jobs are lost without immediate replacement. And for Brazil as an investment destination, it is another sign that attracting foreign factories is much easier than keeping them operating for decades, especially when the global market offers alternatives with less bureaucracy and more predictable costs.
Did you know Haribo had a factory in Brazil or did you just find out it has already closed? Tell us in the comments if you consume the brand’s gummy candies and what you think of a century-old company abandoning the country without explaining the reasons.
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