Grandson of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups inventor accuses Hershey of cutting corners | CBC News

The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at The Hershey Co., accusing the sweet firm of hurting the Reese’s model by shifting to cheaper elements in lots of merchandise.

Hershey acknowledges some recipe modifications however stated Wednesday that it was attempting to satisfy client demand for innovation. Excessive cocoa costs even have led Hershey and different producers to experiment with utilizing much less chocolate in recent times.

Brad Reese, 70, stated 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 creme.

“How does The Hershey Co. proceed to place Reese’s as its flagship model, a logo of belief, high quality and management, whereas quietly changing the very elements (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that constructed Reese’s belief within 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 stated Wednesday that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the identical method they all the time 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. However some Reese’s elements range, Hershey stated.

“As we have grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe changes that permit us to make new shapes, sizes and improvements that Reese’s followers have come to like and ask for, whereas all the time defending the essence of what makes Reese’s distinctive and particular: the proper mixture of chocolate and peanut butter,” the corporate stated.

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‘It was not edible’

Brad Reese stated he thinks Hershey went too far. He stated he lately threw out a bag of Reese’s Mini Hearts, which have been a brand new product launched for Valentine’s Day. The packaging notes that the heart-shaped candies are constituted of “chocolate sweet and peanut butter creme,” not milk chocolate and peanut butter.

“It was not edible,” Reese advised The Related Press in an interview. “It’s important to perceive. I used to eat a Reese’s product on daily basis. That is very devastating for me.”

The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration has strict ingredient and labeling necessities for chocolate. To be thought-about milk chocolate, merchandise should comprise at the very least 10 per cent chocolate liquor, which is a paste constituted of floor cocoa beans and comprises no alcohol. Merchandise additionally should comprise at the very least 12 per cent milk solids and three.39 per cent milk fats.

Firms 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 sweet” 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 Quick Break bars was coated with milk chocolate, he stated, however now they don’t seem to be. Within the early 2000’s, when Hershey launched White Reese’s, they have been made with white chocolate. Now they’re made with a white creme, he stated.

Reese stated Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups bought in Europe, the UK and Eire are additionally completely different than U.S. variations. On Wednesday, a package deal marketed on the web site of British on-line grocery store Ocado described the sweet as “milk chocolate-flavored coating and peanut butter creme.”

Hershey disputed that. The corporate stated 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 range as a result of the EU and the U.Okay. each require milk chocolate merchandise to have greater percentages of cocoa, milk solids and milk fat, Hershey stated.

In a convention name with buyers final 12 months, Hershey Chief Monetary 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 “style profile and the specialness of our iconic manufacturers.”

“I might say in all of the modifications that we have made so far, there was no client impression by any means. As you possibly can think about, even on the smallest model within the portfolio, if we have been to make a change, there’s in depth client testing,” he stated.

However Brad Reese stated he typically has folks inform him that Reese’s merchandise do not style nearly as good as they used to. He stated Pennsylvania-based Hershey ought to be mindful a well-known quote from its founder, Milton Hershey: “Give them high quality, that is the most effective promoting.”

“I completely consider in innovation, however my desire is innovation with high quality,” Reese stated.