An Unlikely Flavour Profile
The latest concept to do the rounds online imagines a Haribo share bag dedicated to one of the UK’s most divisive sweets: the Black Jack. The design proposes a mix of pink and black gummies, mimicking the iconic waxed paper wrapper of the aniseed chew. It’s a bold idea, taking a flavour profile more associated with corner shops and pocket money than it is with the German gummy giant.
Black Jacks, along with Fruit Salads, have been a fixture of British confectionery for decades. First produced by Trebor and now owned by Valeo Confectionery, the dark, chewy square has a robust liquorice and aniseed flavour that sits far outside Haribo’s usual territory of fruit jellies and foams. This concept places that very specific, almost medicinal taste profile into the familiar format of a Haribo grab-bag.
Crossovers and Collaborations
While Haribo is no stranger to brand extensions, a move like this would be unusual for its UK bag range. The company’s most prominent collaboration in recent years is its partnership with Ritter Sport, which produced a chocolate bar containing mini Goldbears. That, however, involved another brand licensing Haribo’s IP, not the other way around. For Haribo to license the Black Jack name and flavour from a direct competitor like Valeo would be a significant strategic shift.
Most of the innovation within Haribo’s core ranges comes from remixing its own established assets. New sharing bags are typically variations on a theme, combining existing shapes like rings, eggs, and bears in different combinations or textures. The idea of incorporating an external, classic British sweet is a departure from this proven model. It raises questions about how the texture would work – would these be standard gummies, or would they attempt to replicate the dense chew of an original Black Jack?
What the real range looks like
Haribo’s current UK sharing bags stick to a familiar formula, with bestsellers like Starmix, Supermix, and Goldbears leading the lineup. Seasonal offerings such as the Sharing Tub and Elf Surprises appear, but the core flavours are consistently fruit-based. A licensed product like a Black Jacks mix would be a complete outlier, sitting apart from the main range and its Tangfastics and Zing variants.
- Haribo Sharing Tub
- Ritter Sport Haribo
- Haribo Elf Surprises
- Haribo Advent Calendar
- Haribo Balla Bites Zing
- Haribo Starmix Sweets Tub
- Haribo Rainbow Strips Zing
- Haribo Tangfastics Sweets Tub
- Haribo Bone Shakers Sharing Bag
- Haribo Starmix Sweets Sharing Bag
Frequently asked questions
- Who currently makes Black Jacks sweets?
- The classic Black Jacks chews are currently manufactured by Valeo Confectionery. The brand was originally created by Trebor before being produced for many years by Tangerine Confectionery, which Valeo acquired.
- Does Haribo sell any aniseed-flavoured sweets in the UK?
- Haribo does produce liquorice and aniseed products, but they are not a major part of its UK gummy range. Pontefract Cakes are perhaps the best-known example, but they have a very different heritage and audience compared to the Starmix and Tangfastics lines.
- Is the Haribo Black Jacks mix a real product?
- No, this is not a real product. It is a Snackfish — a mockup of a fictional product created by the online page UK Snack Attack — and is not available to buy anywhere.
More like this
- Swizzels Imagines a Fizzy Cola & Cherry Mix Squashies Bag
- Haribo All Foam Starmix: A Bag of Just the Squishy Bits
- Swizzels Squashies Fizzy Refreshers Mix Imagined
You have been Snackfished!
Snackfish :
[sn-a-ck-fish] verb
A snack that lies about its legitimacy as an official product online for internet clout and attention. Most commonly fabricated in Adobe Photoshop or using the unofficial Snackfish AI