Grandson of Reese’s inventor slams Hershey over ‘devastating’ ingredient modifications | EUROtoday

The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups is criticizing The Hershey Co., accusing the corporate of damaging the Reese’s model by substituting lower-cost elements in a number of merchandise.

Hershey acknowledged making some recipe changes however stated Wednesday the modifications mirror shopper demand for innovation. The firm and different sweet makers have additionally confronted hovering cocoa costs in recent times, prompting efforts to cut back chocolate content material in recent times.

In a Feb. 14 letter to Hershey’s company model supervisor, Brad Reese, 70, stated the corporate had changed milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut crème in a number of Reese’s objects.

“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 is 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 finally offered his firm to Hershey in 1963.

Hershey stated Wednesday that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the identical approach they at all times have been, with milk chocolate and peanut butter that the corporate makes itself from roasted peanuts and some different elements, together with sugar and salt. But some Reese’s elements fluctuate, Hershey stated.

“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 stated.

Brad Reese stated he thinks Hershey went too far. He stated he not too long ago 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 produced from “chocolate candy and peanut butter crème,” not milk chocolate and peanut butter.

“It was not edible,” Reese instructed The Associated 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. Food and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and labeling necessities for chocolate. To be thought of milk chocolate, merchandise should include a minimum of 10% chocolate liquor, which is a paste produced from floor cocoa beans and comprises no alcohol. Products additionally should include a minimum of 12% milk solids and three.39% milk fats.

Companies can get round these guidelines by utilizing different wording on their packaging. The wrapper for Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar, for instance, comprises the phrases “chocolate candy” as an alternative of “milk chocolate.”

Reese stated Hershey modified the recipes for a number of Reese’s merchandise in recent times. Reese’s Take5 and Fast Break bars was once coated with milk chocolate, he stated, however now they are not. In 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 stated.

Reese stated Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups offered in Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland 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.”

In a convention name with traders final yr, Hershey Chief Financial Officer Steven Voskuil stated the corporate made some modifications in its formulation. Voskuil didn’t say for which merchandise however stated 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 stated.

But Brad Reese stated he usually has folks inform him that Reese’s merchandise do not style pretty much as good as they used to. He stated Pennsylvania-based Hershey ought to consider 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 stated.