Katjes.

I used to think they were gummies from the Netherlands. But no actually — they’re from Germany.

And they’ve been around a looooong time, starting the company in 1910 in Sicily. It was the Cats (or Kats) of Katjes that got their proverbial claw in the door if you will. Oh and they own Sallos and man oh man do We LOVE us some Sallos licorice.

Yet, perhaps the most interesting part of Katjes’ history is that since 2016, “…all Katjes products have been 100% vegetarian – without animal gelatin.”

Katjes Rainbow Gummy Candy

So today we introduce you to Katjes Rainbow Gummy Candy. I found these in a Walgreen’s, with all U.S.-English packaging, which tells me our friends at Katjes are tired of seeing American shelves hopped up on Haribo and Trolli.

And hear hear, I say YES to plant-based gummies! For one, I don’t like the animal parts we have to eat in the gelatin of your everyday gummy. (Those would be skin, tendons, ligaments and hooves.) For two, the more animal shows I watch, the more I think they think about us. Eating them.

SIDE NOTE: I watched My Octopus Teacher on Netflix and dammit if those things aren’t sentient. I can’t eat another. ever.

Katjes Plant-based Gummies are Hard

Number one complaint from me about Vegan gummies? Texture. They are way often way too soft, like stick-to-your-teeth-with-no-discernible-chew soft. But not Katjes Rainbow Gummies. These are solid and semi-tough, the texture I want for a good mouth workout if you will.

You can see from the picture, the gummies are pretty too.

(But I eat all sorts of super good sweets that are ugly as hell so no one’s getting a trophy for beauty here today).

The real question is: How do the Katkes Rainbow Gummy candy taste?

They’re fine.

Yeah. That’s it. They’re Ok. They taste like a general fruit to me (and every gummy in this package is the same besides the two different shapes). Still, they are flavor-forward. And they do this with glucose syrup and sugar — no high-fructose corn syrup in these, which is +1 for us humans who want to live longer.

Would I buy these again? Yes.

Do I go out of my way to buy them BECAUSE they are plant-based? No.

But I don’t go out of my way for anything anyway!

So bravo to Katjes for ensuring Vegetarians and even Vegans can eat their Rainbow gummy candy. And for making deeper inroads into the U.S. market because we Gurus like us some Katjes. (I don’t think we’ve given a weak review to any of their wares.)