The grandson of the inventor of Reese鈥檚 Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at , accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese’s brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products.
acknowledges some recipe changes but said Wednesday that it was trying to meet consumer demand for innovation. High cocoa prices also have led Hershey and other manufacturers to experiment with using less chocolate in recent years.
Brad Reese, 70, said in a Feb. 14 letter to Hershey鈥檚 corporate brand manager that for multiple , the company replaced milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut cr猫me.
鈥淗ow does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese鈥檚 as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese鈥檚 trust in the first place?鈥� Reese wrote in the letter, which he posted on his LinkedIn profile.
He is the grandson of H.B. Reese, who spent two years at Hershey before forming his own candy company in 1919. H.B. Reese invented Reese鈥檚 Peanut Butter Cups in 1928; his six sons eventually sold his company to Hershey in 1963.
Hershey said Wednesday that Reese鈥檚 Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the company makes itself from roasted peanuts and a few other ingredients, including sugar and salt. But some Reese鈥檚 ingredients vary, Hershey said.
鈥淎s we鈥檝e grown and expanded the Reese鈥檚 product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese鈥檚 fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese鈥檚 unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter,鈥� the company said.
Brad Reese said he thinks Hershey went too far. He said he recently threw out a bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts, which were a new product released for . The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are made from 鈥渃hocolate candy and peanut butter cr猫me,” not milk chocolate and peanut butter.
鈥淚t was not edible,鈥� Reese told The Associated Press in an interview. 鈥淵ou have to understand. I used to eat a Reese鈥檚 product every day. This is very devastating for me.鈥�
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and labeling requirements for chocolate. To be considered milk chocolate, products must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor, which is a paste made from ground cocoa beans and contains no alcohol. Products also must contain at least 12% milk solids and 3.39% milk fat.
Companies can get around those rules by using other wording on their packaging. The wrapper for Hershey鈥檚 Mr. Goodbar, for example, contains the words 鈥渃hocolate candy鈥� instead of 鈥渕ilk chocolate.鈥�
Reese said Hershey changed the recipes for multiple Reese’s products in recent years. Reese’s Take5 and Fast Break bars used to be coated with milk chocolate, he said, but now they aren’t. In the early 2000’s, when Hershey released White Reese’s, they were made with white chocolate. Now they’re made with a white creme, he said.
Reese said Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups sold in Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland are also different than U.S. versions. On Wednesday, a package advertised on the website of British online supermarket Ocado described the candy as 鈥渕ilk chocolate-flavored coating and peanut butter cr猫me.鈥�
Hershey disputed that. The company said the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups it sells in the European Union and the United Kingdom use the same recipe as the U.S. version. The labels vary because the EU and the U.K. both require milk chocolate products to have higher percentages of cocoa, milk solids and milk fats, Hershey said.
In a conference call with investors last year, Hershey Chief Financial Officer Steven Voskuil said the company made some changes in its formulas. Voskuil did not say for which products but said Hershey was very careful to maintain the 鈥渢aste profile and the specialness of our iconic brands.鈥�
鈥淚 would say in all the changes that we鈥檝e made thus far, there has been no consumer impact whatsoever. As you can imagine, even on the smallest brand in the portfolio, if we were to make a change, there鈥檚 extensive consumer testing,鈥� he said.
But Brad Reese said he often has people tell him that Reese’s products don’t taste as good as they used to. He said Pennsylvania-based Hershey should keep in mind a famous quote from its founder, Milton Hershey: 鈥淕ive them quality, that’s the best advertising.鈥�
鈥淚 absolutely believe in innovation, but my preference is innovation with quality,鈥� Reese said.
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