Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Haribo Maoam Fruit Chews

DSC_4670rbHaribo Maoam have been around for a long time. The early history is a bit murky, but according to Haribo, Edmund Munster (not this one), who ran the Düsseldorfer Lakritzenwerk (Dusseldorf Licorice Works) bought the license for the chewy, fruity candy Maoam and began making it in Germany.

It was packaged as a penny candy, an impulse item with bold, colorful wax paper wrappings in popular flavors like Lemon, Strawberry, Pineapple, Orange and Raspberry. In 1986 Haribo bought the Edmund Münster company and began making the already iconic Maoam fruit chews.

DSC_4675rb

After 80 years on the market, Maoam sweets are found in a variety of formats and features packaging designed to appeal to children (though plenty of adults are fans). They’re sold around the world. The most common packages are probably the Maoam Minis which is a long package that looks like a bar but is actually five different packets of individual flavors. The current flavor set includes: Cola, Orange, Lemon, Apple, Cherry and Raspberry.

One of the funnest parts of Maoam sweets is how outrage pops up every once in a while about the supposedly suggestive characters on the packages.

DSC_4690rb

There’s a lot of packaging in a Maoam packet. Each piece is individually wrapped, then packaged together in a little stack of five for each flavor, then another cellophane over-wrap. This leaves plenty of evidence that you’ve been eating candy (though the wax papers are mercifully quieter than the cellophane).

Orange They are small, about the same mass as a Starburst. Though the packages are colored, the candies themselves are only lightly tinted. The chew is soft and bouncy. I’d call it a cross between Starburst and HiCHEW. They’re even a little creamy. The orange is a bit like a Creamsicle. It’s a soft orange flavor, not overly zesty, more on the juice side of flavor with a nice zap of tang to it.

DSC_4685rb DSC_4686rb DSC_4684rb DSC_4682rb

Cola is glorious. I would marry these. It’s kind of weird once they’re unwrapped because the candies are white (remember Pepsi Clear?). The flavor is great, it’s a little nutty, creamy but with a snap of lime and that cola flavor. There’s tartness to it and even a feeling of effervescence since there are little tangy spots that give a little jolt of flavor while chewing.

Lemon is tart and smooth without much lemon peel essence to it. They’re quite tasty and have just a hint of a yogurt note to them.

Cherry is a really interesting flavor. It’s different from American black cherry (like Life Savers). It’s dark and woodsy, but also quite tangy and has a little bit of a caustic medicinal flavor to me. There’s no coloring in it, so I can’t complain about that weird aftertaste I get so often.

Raspberry is very fragrant and nuanced. All the notes are there: the perfume, the seeds and the boiled jam.

DSC_4627rbMaoam sweets come in a bunch of different formats and a few other flavors that I didn’t cover with the minis.

I picked up this bag of Haribo Maoam Mixx which features a variety of little individually wrapped items. The main character on the front of the package is the Maoam mascot, a big green blob with a hat and riding a bicycle. (He’s the one who cavorts with the fruits on the packages. His character was introduced in 2002.

This bag cost 2 Euros and holds 400 grams (a little over 14 ounces). There’s a lot of variety.

Haribo Maoam Mix

Stripes are little flat taffy, 7 gram pieces. In this package I got a Green Apple version which wasn’t in the little block pack. The flavor is quite American at first, rather artificial, but after the tartness fades away, there’s a realistic apple peel/juice flavor that dominates. I also found a few Strawberry in this shape. They even had little pink flecks in them which tasted just like little bits of dried strawberry. A very realistic flavor and long lasting, smooth chew.

ChewTwo was another version of the Stripes that’s packaged in clear plastic to see that there are two flavors side by side. In this instance they were colored (or else it wouldn’t be very impressive looking to have two slightly different versions of not white).

Joystixx are long pieces, kind of like the Tootsie Roll Sticks. They’re probably double the mass of the little squares. In this form, they’re easy to bite, or take two different flavors and twist them together for a combo.

Pinballs are more than just a shape change. These are slightly fluffier balls of the chewy then coated in a candy shell. Think of them like an easier-to-chew fruit Mentos or giant fluffy Skittle. The flavor was interesting also because the candy shell had little crystals inside, mostly sugar but occasionally a zap of tart flavor. I could have sworn a few of the yellow ones were pineapple, not Lemon. In some cases the candy shell made them sweeter, and of course grainier. I enjoyed the variation in the texture with the shell, but not the graininess.

There were also individually twist wrapped pieces, I think they’re called Happy Fruttis.

I had no idea that Maoam were so good. I’ve seen them a few times before, and tried a few Pinballs but didn’t realize that the regular chews were so flavorful. They are different from other candies in this category too. They’re a softer chew than Starburst or Mamba and not quite as bouncy or smooth as HiCHEW. Also, if you’re a parent looking for a candy without artificial colors, this is a good kid-friendly option. (Though they’re not exactly all natural.) They do contain gelatin, so they’re not appropriate for vegetarians and those who keep Kosher/Halal.

Related Candies

  1. Eat with your Eyes: Haribo Cola Wheel
  2. Haribo Happy Cola
  3. Fresh Cola Mentos
  4. Mamba Sours
  5. Starburst Berries & Creme and Fruit & Creme
  6. Starburst
  7. HiCHEW Assortment
  8. Ramune & Cola Bubble Ball
  9. Storck Mamba Chews


Name: Maoam Joy Mixx
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: Haribo
Place Purchased: Rewe (Cologne, Germany)
Price: ~ $2.75 (about 2 Euros)
Size: 14.1 ounces
Calories per ounce: 98
Categories: Candy, Haribo, Chews, Sour, 8-Tasty, Germany

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:22 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewHariboChewsColaSour8-TastyGermany

Comments
  1. These Maoam chews look a LOT like Mamba…I was surprised that you didn’t compare the two. Save for the flavors, how are they different? Now I really want to try a cola one (but really all of them, because I’ve never seen these or anything Maoam.)

    Comment by Barbara on 11/01/11 at 7:55 pm #
  2. I am eating one of those Maoam Minis right now, Cherry one, hahah.
    I always liked this kind of candy, and I think the draws in the papers are hilarious xD

    Comment by Sofia on 11/02/11 at 6:47 am #
  3. These sound so interesting!  Where did you find them?

    Comment by Bobbi on 11/02/11 at 11:09 am #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Bobbi - I bought them in Germany (I always include the source in the little orange stats box). However, I’ve seen them at Cost Plus World Market in the past.

    Barbara - I didn’t have them to compare side by side. I made short mention of the comparison at the end, Mambas were a little stiffer chew. Of course the Maoam have probably been around longer which explains the variety of shapes. And Mambas don’t come in Cola flavor to my knowledge.

    Sofia - I love the little artwork on them. I think it’s funny that people get so upset about them.

    Comment by Cybele on 11/02/11 at 11:12 am #
  5. I love the Moam Colas! Glad you liked them too. For readers looking for Moam, see if there’s a German/European importers in your neighborhood.

    Comment by Choika on 11/02/11 at 1:47 pm #
  6. Why is there mascot a cucumber?

    Comment by Rita on 11/03/11 at 7:00 am #
  7. I can’t read any mention of a Daily Mail story without the Daily Mail song popping into my head:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI

    That said, those wrappers are freaky.

    Comment by Synonymous on 11/07/11 at 7:26 pm #
  8. me and my friends were wondering if there is any where in the islands of hawaii we can buy maoams?

    Comment by ariana t. on 7/21/12 at 9:16 pm #
  9. I am just concerned with the ingredients in the maoam Lollies if they contain any pork gelatin just because I’m allergic to pork
    I hope you get back to me soon thank you

    Comment by Sara Tairi on 8/16/12 at 6:41 am #
  10. Do you have pork gelatine in Maoam stripes?

    Comment by Ben Palmer on 8/19/12 at 10:18 am #
  11. Do the maoam sweets contain pork gelatin ty

    Comment by nicola on 10/08/12 at 9:46 am #
  12. I first heard about Maoams from Jack and Finn Harries in one of their videos and on Twitter. Is there anywhere you can get them in Indiana?

    Comment by Alyssa on 1/30/13 at 12:35 pm #
  13. Is there anywhere you can get maoams in Los Angeles?

    Comment by dani on 2/04/13 at 6:23 pm #
  14. Are Maoms exported to Malaysia??

    Comment by Fatini Batrisyia on 3/18/13 at 1:32 am #
  15. Concerning pork or gelatine in Maoams, you will find this info on the website of amazone.fr:
    Ingrédients:
    Sucre, sirop de glucose, graisse végétale, humectant : sorbitol, gélatine, acidifiant : acide citrique, arômes.

    So, yes, there is gelatine!

    Comment by Sanyass on 6/13/13 at 6:47 am #
  16. In the Maoam stripes u should make an apple
    Stripes

    Comment by Skylar on 3/21/14 at 11:47 am #
  17. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE change the stupid, infantile ad on The Big Bang Theory. Or maybe it appeals to a British audience…? I’ve noticed that British TV is inundated with infantile ads. It’s so irritating that I turn it off and can assure you I’d never buy whatever the sweets are simply as a protest to the most awful ad I’ve ever seen.

    Comment by Anna on 11/09/14 at 10:38 am #
  18. I would like to find out about the gelatine used for the maoam sweet, is it pork or bovine??

    Comment by Tharu Austin on 1/16/15 at 3:43 am #
  19. RE pork or bovine gelatine:
    If you are asking for religious matters, whatever the gelatine could be, pork or bovine, it is in both cases animal gelatine so not allowed.

    If you are asking for other matter than the religious one, like allergy ... my answer will not help. lol

    Comment by Sanyass on 1/16/15 at 4:04 am #
  20. These are massive in the UK! There is also a beautiful strawberry flavour however the packs vary :/ strawberry is best but cola is amazing

    Comment by Asile on 1/29/15 at 12:48 pm #
  21. Hi I can eat other gelatines (like beef) but not pork, so what gelatine is used in maoam sweets orjust maoam pinballs

    Comment by Chaz on 3/13/16 at 4:09 am #
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