Brad Reese, a direct descendant of H.B. Reese, used his LinkedIn profile over the weekend to publicly press The Hershey Company on what he says are formulation changes to Reese's products. In an open letter, he complained that milk chocolate and traditional peanut butter have been swapped out for less costly alternatives across multiple items in the Reese's line.
Reese framed his concern around the original product architecture. "My grandfather built Reese's on a simple, enduring architecture: milk chocolate + peanut butter," he wrote. He added that the brand's identity is being altered "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."
The Reese business became part of The Hershey Company following a merger in the 1960s. The recent criticism comes amid a period of notable ingredient changes across the confectionery sector. Over the past two years, several chocolate makers have adjusted product recipes after cocoa climbed to an all-time high above $12,000 per metric ton in late 2024.
Those high prices prompted some companies to substitute cocoa butter and cocoa powder with cheaper, non-cocoa alternatives in certain products in an effort to reduce costs. Hershey pushed back on the assertion of sweeping reformulations in a statement on Tuesday, saying: "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."
Market dynamics have shifted since the cocoa peak. Prices have declined by more than 70% from that record level, a move the industry attributes to easing supply conditions and weakening demand as some consumers cut back on chocolate purchases. Companies also responded by reducing package sizes or turning to alternative ingredients, which contributed to the reversal in the market.
Those price shifts have had repercussions for producers. The top cocoa-growing nations, Ghana and Ivory Coast, are reported to be facing difficulties selling beans, prompting farmers to hold onto stock wherever possible.
The public debate around ingredient choices for legacy brands has extended into investor-focused tools. A product called ProPicks AI, which evaluates companies including HSY using many financial metrics, is mentioned as a way investors can assess whether a stock like HSY fits various strategies. The AI product description highlights its methodology and cites past stock examples that it identified.
Context and market implications
The exchange between a founder's descendant and a major confectioner highlights tensions between brand heritage and cost-driven recipe changes during volatile commodity cycles. For manufacturers and suppliers, decisions about ingredients touch on product innovation, packaging, and cost management. For growers in major producing countries, rapid swings in demand and prices can create urgent sales and storage challenges.