Dive Brief:
- Gummy bear-maker Haribo of America CFO Wes Saber, who helped establish the German candy maker’s first U.S. factory, has stepped down from the position he has held for 11 years, according to a personal post on his LinkedIn account Tuesday.
- Saber held the CFO seat and was a board member from April 2015 to last month. He joined Haribo from Mars where he held multiple senior roles including CFO of ice cream and snacks at Mars Chocolate America and was a finalist in 2019 for Chicago CFO of the Year.
- “It is time to say farewell to the associates of Haribo in the U.S. and around the world,” Saber wrote in his post. “Together, we strengthened the organization, established the first North America manufacturing, and developed the culture, talent, and operating discipline to support long-term growth — and helped make Haribo the gummy brand that America loves. I’m proud of that.”
Dive Insight:
Haribo of America’s headquarters is in Rosemont, Illinois, and it initially considered locating its first U.S. factory in Illinois, according to a 2017 report in Illinois Policy. It opted for nearby Kenosha County across the state line in Wisconsin, the report states. Haribo was teed up in 2017 to receive $21 million in state incentives to locate the plant in the Badger State.
The company’s roots are in Germany. Its name is derived from its founder’s name Hans Riegel and Bonn, Germany, where Riegel started the company in 1920 in a home kitchen with his wife Gertrud as his first employee, according to the company’s website and a Today Show segment. Haribo began selling the product, a gelatine mix infused with color and fruity flavors traditionally shaped into teddy bears to appeal to children, in the U.S. in the 1980s, according to the segment.
In 2023 Haribo began producing what it calls “HARIBO’s iconic Goldbears®” in a 500,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, according to a press release from the time that said the company globally was making over 100 million of the small, bear-shapped colorful fruit candies a day. In addition to leading the development of the nearly $300 million plant, Saber also developed Haribo’s third U.S. warehouse in Bristol, Wisconsin.
Saber took a largely traditional path to the CFO chair. He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and accounting from Cairo University and an MBA from Northern Illinois University, according to LinkedIn and a bio on the website of the Financial Executives International.
Early in his career he worked as a marketing research and economic analyst at Big Four firm KPMG in Egypt and later spent about two years as a senior consultant in corporate finance and ERP & strategy with KPMG, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Saber reflected on the transformation he’s seen in Haribo during a 2021 Institute of Management Accountants podcast, asserting that the North American business of Haribo was like having a start-up inside the 100 year-old company. He also emphasized the importance of making sure accounting and finance professionals have continued opportunities to keep learning at work.
“I would ask everybody to think twice if their learning is not 70% of their job,” Saber said in the podcast.
The company and Saber did not respond to requests for comment. An automatic reply to an email CFO Dive sent to Saber stated that he no longer works for Haribo.
In his social post, Saber signed off with the company’s German advertising slogan which translates loosely to English as, “Haribo makes children and adults happy.” But he did not indicate what his next chapter would entail.
“‘Haribo macht Kinder froh — und Erwachsene ebenso,’” Saber wrote. “I’ll miss working with many of you and wish you continued success. Looking forward to what’s ahead and continuing to build.”
