Haribo recently opened its own store inside the shopping centre
The new Haribo store inside the Trafford Centre(Image: Manchester Family / MEN)
There’s no end to the treats in store at the Trafford Centre and the new Haribo store has added even more options for sweet-toothed shoppers.
Our article about the store’s launch attracted quite some attention, with a fair few readers questioning whether you get your money’s worth from the shop.
They’d seen the prices for the Pick Your Mix station ranging from £7 for a cup, up to £9 for a plastic tub or £12.50 for a gift tin.
After being shocked by the prices at Trafford Centre’s Kingdom of Sweets stall earlier, we decided to compare the two to see exactly what you get.
The Pick Your Mix station inside the Haribo store (Image: Manchester Family / MEN)
We guessed you would probably get more at Haribo, given the hefty £3.29 per 100g fee at Kingdom of Sweets – which also has stalls at Manchester Christmas Markets – but even we were shocked to discover just how much they differ.
£17.70 at Kingdom of Sweets got us just 44 sweets in all, weighing just 530g. At Haribo, we managed to get almost twice that (962g) inside one of the £9 tubs, working out at 94p per 100g, less than a third of the price.
The beauty of Haribo’s Pick Your Mix is that you can fill your tub with as many sweets as you can fit inside – as long as the lid fully closes – so you don’t have to worry about the dreaded weighing scales. We got more than 100 sweets including four large snakes and four big Maoams. I’m sure we could have packed even more in with a bit of strategic placement.
Kingdom of Sweets at the Trafford Centre (Image: Manchester Family / MEN)
It’s obviously not the cheapest you’ll find Haribo. A 175g bag of Haribo Tangfastics will usually set you back about £1.20, which equates to £6.80 a kg or 68p per 100g. And Tesco is currently selling a 400g bag of Tangfastics for £2.20 with Clubcard, which works out at 55p per 100g.
But it’s nice to be able to pick your own selection and most kids see it as a real treat to be able to fill their own tub, so at least you can give them the freedom to do that here without twitching with every scoop they chuck in. Plus there’s a large selection of sweets to choose from including the likes of fried eggs, rhubarb and custard, watermelons, marshmallows, cola bottles and giant strawberries.
Left, what £17.70 got us at Kingdom of Sweets. Right, the contents of the £9 Haribo tub(Image: Manchester Family / MEN)
They had some other good deals in the store too, including 600g Haribo Sharing Tubs for £5 and a Christmas Tin Bundle reduced to £14 including a wide selection of sweets, along with a pen and a Goldbear mug.
The store is the 13th standalone Haribo store in the UK and first in the Greater Manchester region. The closest other store is at the Cheshire Oaks retail park.
A spokesperson for Kingdom of Sweets said: “Our products are competitively priced across the UK market, reflecting our curated selection and premium customer experience rather than a “pile it high, sell it cheap” approach.
“Our pricing model accounts for sourcing a wide selection of UK and European confectionery. Because we are a retailer and do not buy direct from manufacturers, our procurement costs are typically 20% to 30% higher than direct purchase models, meaning our retail structure cannot be directly compared to manufacturers.
Haribo’s Pick Your Mix(Image: Manchester Family / MEN)
Despite significant cost increases over the last four years, we have absorbed most, limiting our price increase to only 10% to minimize the customer impact. We prioritize quality through product range (over 50% vegan/halal options) and customer experience (clearly marked prices and trained staff).
“We are proud to continue the cultural tradition of Pick & Mix sweets by offering this unique, customizable experience.”