The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the sweet firm of injuring the Reese’s model by shifting to cheaper substances in lots of merchandise.
Hershey acknowledges some recipe adjustments however mentioned Wednesday that it was making an attempt to satisfy client demand for innovation. Excessive cocoa costs even have led Hershey and different producers to experiment with utilizing much less chocolate lately.
Brad Reese, 70, mentioned in a Feb. 14 letter to Hershey’s company model supervisor that for a number of Reese’s merchandise, the corporate changed milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème.
“How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese’s as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese’s trust in the first place?” Reese wrote within the letter, which he posted on his LinkedIn profile.
He’s the grandson of H.B. Reese, who spent two years at Hershey earlier than forming his personal sweet firm in 1919. H.B. Reese invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 1928; his six sons ultimately bought his firm to Hershey in 1963.
Hershey mentioned Wednesday that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the identical manner they at all times have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the corporate makes itself from roasted peanuts and some different substances, together with sugar and salt. However some Reese’s substances differ, Hershey mentioned.
“As we’ve grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese’s unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter,” the corporate mentioned.
Brad Reese mentioned he thinks Hershey went too far. He mentioned he lately threw out a bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts, which had been a brand new product launched for Valentine’s Day. The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are constituted of “chocolate candy and peanut butter crème,” not milk chocolate and peanut butter.
“It was not edible,” Reese informed The Related Press in an interview. “You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese’s product every day. This is very devastating for me.”
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and labeling necessities for chocolate. To be thought of milk chocolate, merchandise should comprise at the very least 10% chocolate liquor, which is a paste constituted of floor cocoa beans and incorporates no alcohol. Merchandise additionally should comprise at the very least 12% milk solids and three.39% milk fats.
Corporations can get round these guidelines by utilizing different wording on their packaging. The wrapper for Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar, for instance, incorporates the phrases “chocolate candy” as an alternative of “milk chocolate.”
Reese mentioned Hershey modified the recipes for a number of Reese’s merchandise lately. Reese’s Take5 and Quick Break bars was once coated with milk chocolate, he mentioned, however now they aren’t. Within the early 2000’s, when Hershey launched White Reese’s, they had been made with white chocolate. Now they’re made with a white creme, he mentioned.
Reese mentioned Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups bought in Europe, the UK and Eire are additionally totally different than U.S. variations. On Wednesday, a bundle marketed on the web site of British on-line grocery store Ocado described the sweet as “milk chocolate-flavored coating and peanut butter crème.”
Hershey disputed that. The corporate mentioned the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups it sells within the European Union and the UK use the identical recipe because the U.S. model. The labels differ as a result of the EU and the U.Okay. each require milk chocolate merchandise to have larger percentages of cocoa, milk solids and milk fat, Hershey mentioned.
In a convention name with traders final 12 months, Hershey Chief Monetary Officer Steven Voskuil mentioned the corporate made some adjustments in its formulation. Voskuil didn’t say for which merchandise however mentioned Hershey was very cautious to take care of the “taste profile and the specialness of our iconic brands.”
“I would say in all the changes that we’ve 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’s extensive consumer testing,” he mentioned.
However Brad Reese mentioned he usually has individuals inform him that Reese’s merchandise don’t style nearly as good as they used to. He mentioned Pennsylvania-based Hershey ought to take note a well-known quote from its founder, Milton Hershey: “Give them quality, that’s the best advertising.”
“I absolutely believe in innovation, but my preference is innovation with quality,” Reese mentioned.
