For fifty years, this year, the French have been filling their mouths with Dragibus. This cult candy, star of Haribo, was born in 1973, in Uzès, in the Gard. At the time, the German bonbec giant was already in its fifties, but it was not yet the manufacturer and marketer of these famous colored sugared almonds. The Dragibus are the work of engineers from Ricqlès-Zan, a flourishing French company, the result of the union of two confectioners, famous for their mint soda and their liquorice sticks. They imagine these little tangy balls with a taste of coming back, cousins of American candy beans (Jelly Beans). It’s a cardboard. In France, in grocery stores and tobacconists, people tear up these little pink sachets, which come out of theUzès plant.
Fourteen years later, in 1987, this success made Haribo’s mouth water, which devoured Ricqlès-Zan. From then on, the Dragibus will impose themselves as a safe bet on the confectionery market. Ten thousand tons of Dragibus are produced each year. And it is, today, the most consumed candy in France. In France, and (almost) nowhere else. Apart from Belgium, whose market is very close, the Dragibus have not broken through abroad. “It’s a candy born in France, which the French adore, but which has not been exported, confides to 20 minutes Virginie Orezzi, Marketing and Research and Development Director at Haribo. Today, there are four million Dragibus buyers in France each year, but very few abroad. But it must be said that we did not necessarily push it, we like to keep it for the French market. »
What are the tastes of the Dragibus? Mystery…
If it is also popular in France, it is, first of all, because it is, in France, “unique on the market. It has no direct competitors,” says Virginie Orezzi. It is also a product invented in France, and whose historical range is still manufactured at the Uzès factory, where it was born. And that pleases. But the enigma that surrounds these cult sugared almonds probably also has something to do with this immense success. What are the tastes of the Dragibus? Is there a taste per color? Or do they all, in fact, share the same flavor, and have we been victims of a collective hallucination for all these years? These questions, Haribo does not answer them, knowingly, of course. Because for communication, it’s blessed bread. “It is the candy that is the most discussed, spontaneously, on social networks, continues Virginie Orezzi. Without Haribo initiating anything, consumers are debating their favorite Dragibus, and the question “Do all sweets taste the same?”. There are lots of theories circulating on the Internet, and which feed the attachment that consumers have for this brand. »
The few employees of Haribo who are in the confidence have also been ordered not to disclose anything about the Dragibus recipe. It is thus, in the greatest secrecy, in Uzès, that these sweets are made. “I almost had a domestic scene with my husband, smiles Marie-Pierre Siret, research and development engineer at Haribo. He wanted to know, for a colleague who had asked him the question, what were the tastes of the Dragibus. And I said “well no, I won’t tell you!” He told me “but, it’s me, anyway!” I held on. Confidentiality is total, even for the very close family. “At Virginie Orezzi, it is also classified as a defense secret: “My daughter insists on a fairly regular basis. And the answer is always the same, no! »
Their manufacture “requires real know-how”
If we will not know anything about the mystery of tastes and colors, Haribo remains, all the same, transparent about the manufacturing process of Dragibus. “It’s long, very long, explains Marie-Pierre Siret. We start by making the gelled heart, with corn starch. Because it’s a vegetarian candy. For fifty years, it has always been starch-based. This was one of the great strengths of the Riqlès-Zan company, which created the Dragibus, because designing a jelly with starch is not so simple. The heart of the Dragibus is thus steamed for three to six days, depending on the size of the candy. These gelled balls are then loaded into turbines, where they are “delicately” enhanced with syrup and sugar. Then the sweets are again dried, for 24 to 48 hours, before the very last stage, “varnishing, which consists of making the dragees shine, a bit like pearls”, continues the engineer from Haribo.
“It requires real know-how,” confides Virginie Orezzi. There are true master confectioners at the Uzès factory. “They must constantly adapt to climatic conditions,” continues Marie-Pierre Siret. We may have air conditioners, but if the humidity in the air is different, they must constantly adjust the process, so that the result is perfect. “If the manufacture of Dragibus has hardly evolved since 1973, they are however made of a” 100% natural dye “for two years.
And this year, for the 50th anniversary of the Dragibus, Haribo had a perfect idea to revive the debate: a new color, orange, has temporarily joined the packages. Will it appeal to foodies? And if the plebiscite is total, will the orange balls join, durably, the Dragibus packages? It would be a bit complicated, at the Uzès factory, to make a permanent place for a new color, warn Virginie Orezzi and Marie-Pierre Siret. But if orange is over the top, then maybe Haribo will think about it. This was the case, ten years ago, for the 40th anniversary of the Dragibus. The confectioner had created a blue candy, destined to disappear. Finally, it rained so much, that he stayed. “The success was so enormous, that it was impossible to withdraw it! smiles Marie-Pierre Siret. And it is today, with black, one of the favorite Dragibus of the French.