Haribo expands Knut gummy bear production

Polar bear cub Knut, holds a twig in his mouth as he walks through an enclosure in Berlin zoo April 9, 2007. The Haribo sweet factory in Bonn which has been churning out ''Cuddly Knut'' gummy bears since Easter has expanded production to a second factory to cope with surging demand for the chewy polar bear candies.

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters Life!) - The Haribo sweet factory in Bonn which has been churning out "Cuddly Knut" gummy bears since Easter has expanded production to a second factory to cope with surging demand for the chewy polar bear candies.

A spokesman for the company said over 1 million of the raspberry flavoured sweets modelled on the Berlin Zoo's celebrity bear cub were being manufactured each day.

The photogenic cub, was rejected by his mother at birth four months ago, but has grown into an international media superstar luring thousands of new visitors to the Berlin Zoo each day.

Haribo said it was donating 10 euro cents to the zoo for every tub of Knut sweets it sells.