Hershey will return to using “classic milk chocolate and dark chocolate recipes” in all of its products by 2027
After weeks of consumer complaints, initiated by a grandson of the inventor of the popular Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, Hershey’s announced that it will return to using “classic milk chocolate and dark chocolate recipes” in its products.
For weeks, Brad Reesegrandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, has made it his mission to restore the legacy of the treat that bears his family’s name. It all started when he bit into a Reese’s Mini Heart, the heart-shaped version of the famous chocolate and peanut butter cups.
“It was disgusting,” Reese said in an interview.
Since then, says Reese, Reese has launched a campaign against the Hershey Company, manufacturer of Reese’s products, on social media and in the media.
Encouraged by other chocolate lovers, he accused the company of harming customers by discreetly replacein some of its sweets, the real milk chocolate for a substitute with chocolate flavor.
Hershey’s has maintained that its classic peanut butter cups have always been made with real milk chocolate and that only some specific products used this substitute.
Still, the company has now announced that it will “return to classic recipes milk chocolate and dark chocolate” andm all its products by 2027.
This is a change of direction for the companythat, of sweets, reformulated some of its productsafter the rise in cocoa prices, replacing the more expensive cocoa butter with other fats. The company announced these changes at a meeting with investors held on Tuesday.
Reese, 70, said he was not happy with the announcement, considering the company not acting quickly enough to change the ingredients. “That is Just a PR stunt; there is no victory here,” he said in an interview. “If they were serious, they would do it immediately.”
Allison Kleinfeltercompany spokesperson, explained to The Guardian that the changes to products take time. “We are moving quickly, with changes expected to begin in 2027, covering formulation, packaging, supply lines and ingredient sourcing.”
Hershey’s insists that started planning these changes in revenues last year and that they did not emerge in response to Reese’s criticism. “Consumer ingredient preferences evolve over time, and we are always responsive,” Kleinfelter wrote.
Most of the brand’s products, including Hershey’s chocolate bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, are already made with milk chocolate or dark chocolate, Kleinfelter highlighted.
Hershey’s is also “ transition to naturally derived dyes across its entire sweets portfolio” and adjust KitKat bar recipe “for a creamier taste and texture,” the company said in a statement.
In addition to the chocolates that triggered the protests, the brand’s Peanut Butter Eggs also no longer indicate milk chocolate in the list of ingredients. In a statement released at the time, Hershey’s said it had adjusted the recipe for some products to “allow creating new shapes, sizes and innovations”.
Brad Reese is HB Reese neta candy manufacturer who around 1928 invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. In 1963, Hershey’s purchased the HB Reese Candy Company.
Although he was never an employee or representative of the company, Reese said that for much of his life he voluntarily promoted the Reese’s brand — and that when he noticed the changes in the candy ingredients, he felt them as a “betrayal”.
