Were you aware that for the last several years, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups you’ve eaten didn’t actually have real chocolate in them? We sure had no idea. Yes, that sounds absurd, but it’s apparently true. The reason we know is because Barry Reese, the grandson of Reese’s founder, recently wrote a very critical open letter to Todd Scott of the Hershey company. And that letter made the rounds. We learned about this via Food Beast. Barry Reese openly accused Hershey of changing Reese’s proprietary milk chocolate recipe, and making this change without letting customers know. As a result of this public calling-out, Hershey is going back to real milk chocolate soon. Well, more like “soonish.”
In his scathing letter to the company, Barry Reese said: “Reese’s identity is being rewritten, not by storytellers, but by formulation decisions that replace Milk Chocolate with compound coatings and Peanut Butter with peanut-butter-style crèmes across multiple Reese’s products.” We’re not sure how the makers of chocolate goodies count as storytellers, but hey, we’ll go with it. Alongside the Peanut Butter Cups, Reese’s has apparently replaced real milk chocolate in their Take 5, Reese’s Fast Break, White Reese’s, Mr. Goodbar, and Reese’s Mini Hearts offerings. It appears that Reese’s Pieces was immune to this change. So you can tell E.T. to relax.
Perhaps because of this public humiliation, starting in 2027, Hershey plans to bring real milk chocolate back to its products. At least a small portion of them, anyway. The company says they will start reverting only about 3% of Reese’s products for starters. So chances are, even with the real milk chocolate back, it’ll be a long time before you taste it again. In a statement, the company said, “Hershey remains committed to making products consumers love, and that means continually reviewing our recipes to meet evolving tastes and preferences. A series of enhancements taking effect in 2027 reflects that commitment.” Maybe next year, you’ll be one of the lucky 3% who get real chocolate in their Peanut Butter Cups.