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Reese’s founder’s grandson slams Hershey over alleged ingredient swap
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The grandson of the person who invented the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is publicly criticizing The Hershey Firm, accusing the sweet big of quietly altering the recipe of sure merchandise offered by the long-lasting model.
Brad Reese, grandson of founder HB Reese, whose firm merged with Hershey within the Sixties, revealed an open letter on LinkedIn on Saturday alleging that Hershey has changed conventional components reminiscent of milk chocolate and peanut butter with cheaper substitutes in elements of Reese’s product line.
“My grandfather constructed Reese’s on easy, sustainable structure: milk chocolate + peanut butter,” wrote Brad Reese.
“However immediately, Reese’s identification is being rewritten, not by storytellers, however by formulation choices that change milk chocolate with compound coatings and peanut butter with peanut butter-style lotions in a number of Reese merchandise.”
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Brad Reese, grandson of Reese’s founder HB Reese, sounded off about The Hershey Firm in an open letter on Saturday. (Arne Dedert/picture alliance through Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
Brad Reese advised FOX Enterprise that he just lately bought Reese’s Unwrapped Chocolate Peanut Butter Creme Mini Hearts candies and instantly observed a distinction.
“I went to purchase a bag, took a number of bites and needed to throw the bag within the trash,” Reese stated. “I could not eat it. It was inedible, and I seemed on the package deal… and there was no milk chocolate, there was no peanut butter – it was all vegetable oils and fat.”
He additionally claimed that merchandise reminiscent of Reese’s Take 5 and Quick Break are now not coated in milk chocolate and claimed that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in elements of Europe now not comprise milk chocolate.
Brad Reese says the alleged recipe modifications undermine the legacy and integrity of the model his grandfather constructed.
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Reese argues that the modifications undermine his grandfather’s legacy. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Common Photos Group through Getty Photos/Getty Photos)
“I can’t proceed to signify Reese’s grandson if the product is totally nugatory,” Brad Reese advised FOX Enterprise. “You haven’t any concept how devastating it’s.”
Hershey has pushed again on the criticism, claiming its flagship product stays unchanged.
“Our iconic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the identical manner they all the time have; beginning with roasting contemporary peanuts to create our distinctive, one-of-a-kind peanut butter, which is then mixed with milk chocolate,” The Hershey Firm advised FOX Enterprise in an e-mail.
Nevertheless, Hershey acknowledged that it has adjusted the recipes because it expands the model into new types and variations.
“We adapt product recipes that permit us to create new shapes, sizes and improvements that Reese’s followers have come to like and demand, whereas all the time defending the essence of what makes Reese’s distinctive and particular: the right mixture of chocolate and peanut butter,” the corporate stated.
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Hershey pushed again, emphasizing that the “iconic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the identical manner they all the time have; beginning with roasting contemporary peanuts to create our distinctive, one-of-a-kind peanut butter that’s then mixed with milk chocolate.” (Ryan Collerd/Bloomberg through Getty Photos/Getty Photos)
The dispute comes as the broader chocolate business has confronted intense value pressures.
Over the previous two years, a number of chocolate makers have adjusted their recipes after cocoa costs rose to a file excessive in late 2024, Reuters reported.
In July, Hershey reportedly introduced worth will increase for its sweet portfolio, citing an “unprecedented” enhance in cocoa prices.
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Since then, cocoa costs have fallen, pushed by weakening demand and enhancing provide situations, in accordance with Reuters.