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The man whose family name is on every orange wrapper in the country is calling out The Hershey Co. for what he describes as a betrayal of consumer trust, particularly with the Reese’s candy. Brad Reese, the grandson of the legendary H.B. Reese, took to LinkedIn to blast the corporation for “quietly replacing” the fundamental ingredients that made the candy a household name.
According to Reese, the company has ditched real milk chocolate and peanut butter in favor of cheaper “compound coatings” and “peanut butter-style crème” across several product lines.
“How does The Hershey Company 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 in a stinging open letter on February 14.
H.B. Reese originally invented the iconic cup in his basement in 1928 after working for Milton Hershey himself. For decades, the brand stood for a specific standard, but Brad Reese argues those days are over. In a follow-up post on Tuesday, he noted, “Reese’s became iconic because my grandfather built it on real ingredients and real integrity.” He even shared a recent personal experience with a bag of Valentine’s Day “Mini Hearts” that he ended up tossing in the trash. The label on those candies lists “chocolate candy and peanut butter crème” rather than real milk chocolate and peanut butter.
“It was not edible,” Reese told The Associated Press. “You have to understand. I used to eat a Reese’s product every day. This is very devastating for me.”
Hershey is pushing back against the idea that they’ve compromised the brand. In a statement to CBS News, the company claimed that while they do make “product recipe adjustments” to allow for new shapes and sizes, the core product remains untouched. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been,” the company stated, insisting they are “protecting the essence” of the chocolate and peanut butter combo. However, market experts point out that record-high cocoa prices have forced many manufacturers to get creative with formulas to keep prices steady. By using terms like “chocolate candy” or “white crème,” companies can bypass strict FDA rules that require a specific percentage of cocoa butter and milk fat to use the label “milk chocolate.”
Brad Reese isn’t buying the corporate spin. He points to products like Take5 and Fast Break bars, which he says used to have real milk chocolate coatings but have since been changed. He also pointed out that in the UK, the candy is now advertised as having a “milk chocolate-flavored coating.”
While Hershey’s CFO Steven Voskuil told investors last year that formula changes have had “no consumer impact whatsoever” thanks to extensive testing, Reese says the feedback he gets from the public tells a different story.
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