In short
“Chocolate skimpflation” in Reese’s products—whether Hershey is replacing “real” milk chocolate and peanut butter with legally different ingredients like chocolate compound and peanut butter cream.
Guests/backgrounds
Brad Reese, retired (West Palm Beach, FL), grandson of H.B. Reese (inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup), who wrote open letters after tasting Valentine’s mini hearts. Judy G. (Judy Ganeshram), cocoa/soft-commodities consultant; explains cocoa supply chain and FDA labeling rules.
Key claims
Some Reese’s items still say “milk chocolate” and “peanut butter,” but others use “chocolate candy” and “peanut butter cream,” implying less cocoa/peanuts. Brad alleges brand damage and “skimflation.” Hershey says changes are for new shapes/recipes and that they still use fresh ground peanuts; “peanut butter cream” means <90% peanuts.
Notable examples
Classic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (real milk chocolate/peanut butter) vs unwrapped mini eggs/mini hearts (chocolate candy/peanut butter cream). Bloomberg later reports Hershey will stop using chocolate compound coating in all Reese’s/Hershey’s by 2027.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOBrad's Distress Over Chocolate Changes
0:45 to 3:38
Brad shares his experience with the new Reese's mini hearts and his disappointment with the ingredients.
“I mean, I guess you could call me a big Reese's fan.”
Hershey's Ingredient Controversy
3:38 to 4:12
Discussion on the ingredients used in Reese's products and the implications for the brand.
“The Hershey Company is using ingredients in their candies that legally they cannot label milk chocolate or peanut butter.”
The Concept of Skimflation
5:00 to 8:29
Explaining skimflation and how it relates to Reese's ingredient changes.
“Ever invest in something that seemed incredible at first but didn't live up to the hype?”
Brad Reese's Family Legacy
8:29 to 11:25
Brad discusses his family's history with Hershey and the legacy of H.B. Reese.
“This is a term that we at Planet Money coined a few years ago.”
Family Drama and Brand Identity
11:25 to 13:20
The family dynamics surrounding the Reese's brand and differing opinions on product quality.
“Brad's dad and the other siblings, they get stock and a big payday.”
Taste Test Investigation Begins
13:20 to 14:01
The hosts start a taste test comparing original Reese's products with the altered versions.
“I mean, Sarah, it wouldn't be a great American candy company without, you know, some family drama.”
Tasting the Mystery of Mini Eggs
14:01 to 16:24
Join the hosts as they taste and critique Reese's peanut butter mini eggs, uncovering hidden flavors.
“I found Reese's peanut butter mini eggs unwrapped.”
Delving into Chocolate Supply Chain Challenges
16:25 to 16:51
Explore the complexities of the global chocolate supply chain and its effects on chocolate quality.
“Break me off a piece of that podcast underwriting.”
Understanding the Economics of Chocolate Production
17:44 to 19:54
Learn about the processes and regulations that define chocolate products in America.
“And are you like sprinkling it on things?”
The Case for Skimpflation in Chocolate
19:55 to 21:11
Investigate the reasons behind the decline in chocolate quality and the shift to cheaper ingredients.
“Judy says the cocoa butter part is kind of essential for the texture and silkiness of chocolate.”
Show all 17 chapters
The Impact of Global Events on Chocolate Prices
21:12 to 25:09
Discover how environmental factors and trade policies have influenced chocolate prices globally.
“All right, when you flip over some of these Reese's products that we have in our hands right here, you will see in the ingredients, first sugar, then vegetable oil.”
Consumer Perception and Product Differentiation
25:10 to 28:00
Explore the strategies chocolate companies use to appeal to different consumer segments.
“Which like, okay, understandable, but wait just right there.”
The Evolution of Reese's Products
28:00 to 28:56
Explore how different Reese's products target various consumer segments.
“That's probably like the Reese's Sticks or something.”
Skimpflation and Chocolate Quality
28:57 to 30:09
Discuss the impact of cocoa prices on chocolate quality and consumer perception.
“Because cost pressures have partly subsided over the last year.”
Brad Reese's Skimp-Shaming Campaign
30:10 to 31:39
Learn about Brad Reese's efforts to hold Hershey's accountable for ingredient changes.
“It really depends on the economics and what their sales are.”
Breaking News on Hershey's Ingredients
31:40 to 32:43
Uncover the latest updates regarding Hershey's decision to change its chocolate coating.
“It's now, I'll just go out and just be a normal person wearing a normal shirt and won't be talking about Reese's.”
The Implications of Ingredient Changes
32:44 to 33:46
Analyze the implications of Hershey's ingredient change in light of consumer reports.
“We were talking to him on the phone, on speaker, and he had not yet heard the news.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Support for this NPR podcast comes from the Northwestern University Master's Program in Information Systems. Build advanced skills for IT management roles entirely online. Details are at sps.northwestern.edu slash is. This is Planet Money from NPR. Brad would rather be spending his time singing karaoke right now. I do Rolling Stones. I do Depeche Mode. I just have fun.
0:35Greg Rosalsky:Brad is 70, retired in West Palm Beach, Florida. And when we first talked to him, he showed up wearing a bright orange, I guess, Hawaiian shirt, but with a bunch of Reese's peanut butter cups all over it. Honestly, pretty snazzy. I mean, I guess you could call me a big Reese's fan. And it's his love of Reese's that is keeping him from his beloved karaoke right now. Yeah, because a little while ago, he heard that the Hershey Company had released a new Reese's chocolate. It was Reese's peanut butter, many hearts unwrapped. Okay. And of course, then I went out and bought one, bought a pouch. Brad opens the bag and pops some mini hearts in his mouth.
1:18And I took two bites and it was not recognizable. It was just nasty. It was not edible. Brad spits out the mini hearts and then he dumps them in the trash. But then he's like, wait, what was so off about those chocolate hearts? I retrieved the pouch, the wrapper, and looked carefully at the front and the back. And there was no milk chocolate and there was no real peanut butter. So it wasn't even, I don't know what I, Greg, I have no idea what I was eating or what I was tasting.
1:52Greg Rosalsky:Brad is like, what is even in here? No milk chocolate? No peanut butter? In a chocolate Reese's peanut butter cup-like product? I went to the store and just investigated everything I could. Brad starts scanning the candy aisles, looking at the wrappers of other Reese's and Hershey's products. Are you familiar with the Reese's Fast Break? I am. Okay. One of my favorites. No longer milk chocolate. Wow. The Reese's Sticks. Have you had those? I have not had the Reese's 6. They're similar to a Kit Kat, but peanut butter. And those came out in 1998. Very good. I love them. And it came out as the crisp you can't resist.
2:31That used to be milk chocolate. Again, taken off, no milk chocolate. Yeah. The wrappers on these Reese's candies have changed. They used to say milk chocolate. And on some other Reese's candies, they used to say peanut butter. Now they say something else. Chocolate candy. They replaced milk chocolate with chocolate candy. And they replaced the peanut butter with peanut butter cream.
2:57Greg Rosalsky:And these words, chocolate, candy, peanut butter, cream, they may sound like the real deal milk chocolate and peanut butter, but they are not. It's fake. It's compound coding. It's betrayal. I felt betrayed. I mean, it's like somebody took a dagger and stabbed it in my heart. It'd be one thing if Brad were just like some random Reese's super fan. But Brad, he's the grandson of H.B. Reese, the inventor of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Brad's name is Brad Reese. And then I just said, wait a second, I can do something about this. Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Greg Rizalski. And I'm Sarah Gonzalez.
3:42Greg Rosalsky:The Hershey Company is using ingredients in their candies that legally they cannot label milk chocolate or peanut butter. And an heir to a chocolate and peanut butter dynasty is now going after the brand that bears his family name. Today on the show, why chocolate makers might be skimping on the chocolate and the peanut butter.
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5:33All right. Obviously, we reached out to the Hershey Company to weigh in on the chocolate allegations made by Brad Reese, angry grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup inventor. Hershey's did not give us an interview, but they did tell us via email that their, quote, iconic Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are, quote, made the same way they always have been.
5:57Greg Rosalsky:Which prompted a thorough investigation by Planet Money at various stores. It's incredibly thorough.
6:07Wow.
6:08Greg Rosalsky:We have purchased$70 worth of Reese's products. Oh, look at that CVS receipt. Jeez. You can just hear it from a mile away. Honestly, Reese's peanut butter cups, my number one. Since maybe I was like four or five years old. I don't even think there's like, I can't even think of my number two. Number one chocolate, Reese's. Reese's. It's Reese's. Reese's. This would like rock my world if we're not pronounced Reese's. You're giving me Brad vibes, Greg. It would be devastating. All right. When we go through this assortment of chocolate that we have assembled here, here's what we found. The original Reese's peanut butter cups, as Hershey said, do still say that they are made with real milk chocolate and real peanut butter.
6:58Greg Rosalsky:That formula has not changed. Same with the mini cups. and even some of the Easter-related egg-shaped ones. They also still say milk chocolate and peanut butter. But on some of the other products that we have here, Brad is right. Those do say chocolate candy or peanut butter cream or both. Yeah, for example, on these mini eggs that are unwrapped. Also, a more normal-sized egg one that is wrapped. Some flat eggs, some chocolate bunnies. On those, it is chocolate candy or peanut butter cream. Brad thinks Hershey's is skimping on their ingredients so much that they can't even call their stuff milk chocolate or peanut butter anymore.
7:41So they use workaround words. Keywords are chocolate candy, chocolatey, covered in chocolate, made with chocolate. If you don't see the words milk chocolate, then it's fake. Fake is kind of a mean way of saying these candies are using what's known as a chocolate compound. Chocolate compound uses some chocolate ingredients, but not enough to legally be called milk chocolate.
8:07Greg Rosalsky:Similar story with the peanut cream. Not enough peanuts to be called peanut butter. And for Brad Reese, using fewer peanuts, using fewer chocolate ingredients, this is in poor taste. That is a bit of an understatement. Brad is basically accusing Hershey's of chocolate skimflation. Skimflation. This is a term that we at Planet Money coined a few years ago. Well, Greg, you, you are a fantastic newsletter writer. You coined this and now like the Federal Reserve is saying skimflation. NPR, you cannot ever let me go. This is like, I'm the skimflation guy. I'm the skimflation guy. You can't skimp on me.
8:51Anyway, yeah, so skimflation, it's a business practice in which companies degrade their goods and services. You know, like skimp on their quality, often in response to inflationary pressures like higher ingredient costs or, you know, higher labor costs. It's a sneaky form of inflation where instead of simply raising prices, companies skimp on the quality of their goods and services.
9:16Greg Rosalsky:On the quality. Now, for the record, some Reese's products may have always been made with chocolate compound and were never made with real milk chocolate or real peanut butter. But other products do seem to have actually switched ingredients, or some might say skimped on the ingredients. They skimflated. And Brad Reese, he's not happy with any of this. He says Hershey's is degrading his family legacy. Yeah, so to understand where I fit in, okay, my grandfather, H.B. Reese, was born in 1879. And my father was the youngest of his 16 children. 16? Yes. So yeah, H.B. Reese, he had a lot of mouths to feed.
10:04In 1916, probably amidst the screams of a ton of crying babies, H.B. Reese read in the newspaper that Milton Hershey, the founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company, needed more help on his dairy farms, which, you know, supplied milk for his milk chocolate.
10:21Greg Rosalsky:Brad's grandpa, HB, got the job. It was the start of a long-term business relationship and friendship between Grandpa Reese and Mr. Hershey. And then in 1923, HB formed his own company, the HB Reese Candy Company. He had peanut clusters. He had caramel. He had coconut. At the time, there was this chocolate peanut butter product on the market in Pennsylvania. It was a ball. Peanut butter ball wrapped in chocolate. And H.B. Reese, he has an idea. So what my grandfather did is he put it in a cup. Oh, it's in a cup now, guys. Innovation. All right. It was also, there was something else. It was one part of the innovation.
11:06My grandfather's genius was to perfect the peanut butter. The key has always been the peanut butter. He builds a chocolate and peanut butter empire. In the 50s, he hands control over to his six sons. And in 1963, those sons, they sell to Hershey. Okay, technically it's a merger. Brad's dad and the other siblings, they get stock and a big payday. I was only seven years old. I didn't even know my family owned a candy company. I thought he worked there like everybody else. So I had no say, you know, didn't know what that transaction was all about. other than we moved from a normal house into a big mansion.
11:48Greg Rosalsky:Brad wishes his family never sold the company. And I guess stayed in a normal house and didn't move to a mansion. Yeah, he wishes he had some control over the Reese's brand, especially right now. After he tasted those Reese's peanut butter mini hearts unwrapped back in February and hated them. I just had to spit it out. I mean, slap me in the face, wake me up. After first tasting those mini hearts, Brad did what any third generation chocolate royal with no power over the family company because it was sold over a half century ago could do. He wrote an open letter on LinkedIn. That's why I'm writing to you publicly today.
12:27This is Brad reading his open letter. My grandfather, H.B. Reese, who invented Reese's, built Reese's on a simple, enduring architecture. Milk chocolate plus peanut butter. Brad's basic thing is you're damaging the Reese's brand, but, you know, written with the seriousness of the Declaration of Independence. Not a flavor idea, not a marketing construct, a real tangible product identity that consumers have trusted for a century.
12:58Greg Rosalsky:But honestly, can anyone but Brad Reese even really taste the difference between milk chocolate and chocolate candy or peanut butter versus peanut butter cream? Because in response to Brad's open letter, other Reese's descendants wrote their own letter or statement or whatever, being like, the products are fine. Grandpa Reese would be fine with the current Reese's products. I mean, Sarah, it wouldn't be a great American candy company without, you know, some family drama. A little family drama, totally. So yeah, like in our continued thorough investigation, Hello, Pulitzer committee. We moved to this, you know, taste test phase.
13:39Should we start with the OG?
13:42Greg Rosalsky:To set our palate. Here we go. We begin with the classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that is still labeled milk, chocolate, and peanut butter. Oh, my God. How iconic. I love how they have the little wrap around it, too. Like, you open it, and there's that little film. It's amazing. It's like unwrapping a gift. fantastic i i'm sorry like it doesn't get better so i sometimes nibble at the edges i just like a little gerbil just like okay two bites two bites and he's done no it's got you gotta do two bites the classic reese's peanut butter cup it's as scrumptious as ever now we gotta taste the one labeled chocolate candy and peanut butter cream this is where the investigation really picks up people, okay?
14:30I found Reese's peanut butter mini eggs unwrapped. Me too! You got that? Yeah. All right, great.
14:37Greg Rosalsky:This is the same thing that Brad Reese had that he spit out, except these are the eggs. He had the hearts because it was around Valentine's Day. This is what broke Brad Reese's heart. All right, we'll open this up. Little mini eggs. Oh, look at this. They're a little tiny. Oh, yeah, I see. They're unwrapped. Honestly, I'm just going to be honest. It doesn't smell the same. I think it does. No. Bite it in half or pop it? I think just pop it in.
15:08No. I'm not joking. No. I'm not just saying this. It's not right. It's not right. I mean, I can get on board with the peanut butter cream, but I give no allowances on
15:19Greg Rosalsky:the skimping of the chocolate. I like the peanut butter cream. I'm just going to say it. Do you? It's like saltier. I like the OG peanut butter. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't like a mystery. What is the cream? What does that mean? See, I feel very passionate about peanut butter. So I don't want this. I don't want anything skimped on. It was a disappointing experience for me. I mean, listen, I love Reese's peanut butter cups as much as the next guy. Well, not as much as Brad. Not as much as Brad Reese. Yeah, sure. Not as much as Brad. Obviously. I don't think anybody likes it as much as him.
15:54But still, it stirred something in me. Was it anger? Was it desperation? An existential crisis? Or was it yearning? To understand why a storied chocolate company would use less chocolate and peanut butter.
16:13Greg Rosalsky:It has to do with the global chocolate supply chain, the shapes our fun chocolate comes in, and the less discerning consumers who somehow may not even notice. That's after the break. Break me off a piece of that podcast underwriting. Oh, baritone. I like it.
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17:44Greg Rosalsky:To understand why chocolate makers are skimping on the milk chocolate right now, we called up someone who knows the ins and outs of the chocolate industry and somehow seems to be as passionate about chocolate as brad race you know i travel a ton and in my luggage i always always always 100 carry with me valrona unsweetened cocoa powder this is judy gains and honestly we had to look up valrona i'd never heard of it and apparently this is like the gucci or Lamborghini of cocoa powder? Because this stuff is like expensive. Super high end. It's a three kilo box. You're buying kilos of cocoa powder.
18:28And are you like sprinkling it on things? Like what do you do with it? I actually make hot chocolate with it. And sometimes it gets nailed by security as to what it is.
18:40Greg Rosalsky:And you're like, I'm in chocolate. I'm in chocolate. I work in chocolate. It's cocoa powder. They're like frisking you. And I just love it because you're a chocolate expert. And that's just like so wonderful. Judy has a consulting firm that focuses on soft commodities. So sugar, coffee, cocoa, cotton, orange juice. So a hard commodity would be like crude oil, coal, gold, diamonds. Basically, hard commodities are mined or drilled. Soft commodities are typically grown. And Judy, Judy is a soft commodity gal. Particularly cocoa. Yeah, definitely. Before we get into chocolate economics, coconomics, if you will, you got to know how we even get this miracle of nature and human ingenuity we call chocolate.
19:32Chocolate comes from chocolate liqueur. It sounds like something that would give you like a really bad hangover, but it doesn't contain any alcohol.
19:41Greg Rosalsky:Chocolate liqueur is what you get when you take the cocoa pod, like the whole fruit, take the cocoa beans out, ferment them, roast them, grind them up. The result is that chocolate liqueur, which is part cocoa butter, part cocoa powder. So it's sort of like having a jar of peanut butter that the oil rises to the top. Judy says the cocoa butter part is kind of essential for the texture and silkiness of chocolate. The cocoa powder, it's more essential for the flavor. And as we've mentioned, if you want to call something milk chocolate, the Food and Drug Administration doesn't mess around. They have strict, strict rules.
20:17In milk chocolate, as per the FDA, it has to be, in the U.S., 10 % chocolate liqueur. At least 10%. 10%. Let's say it together. It's harmonized. At least 10 % chocolate liqueur. That little catch on the FDA is that for whatever cocoa butter is in that milk chocolate, it must be 100 % cocoa butter. You can't substitute any vegetable oil or palm oil. It has to be pure cocoa butter, people.
Read the full transcript
20:57Greg Rosalsky:I mean, come on. If there's vegetable oil in there. That's the weak stuff. We don't want that. That's not chocolate. Then it's not chocolate. That's what we're saying. That's what I said, Judy. That's what I was saying. We need to go back to the investigation. Cue the sound, James. All right, when you flip over some of these Reese's products that we have in our hands right here, you will see in the ingredients, first sugar, then vegetable oil. The smoking skimflation gun, it's right there. Well. Right in front of our face the whole time, Sarah. Well, hold on, because do we know for sure that the motivation here is to skimp?
21:38Greg Rosalsky:Like, could there be other reasons to swap out the ingredients? Because in March, when we first heard from Hershey's, they suggested that their use of chocolate compound and peanut butter cream was not skimflation, that it was innovation, that this was about new shapes and sizes, new products and serving consumer preferences. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll dive into more of that in a second. but I'm just going to say it like it's not this consumer's preference. We know, we know, we know. Okay, we are going to start with the evidence that this is actually skimflation. Okay, hear me out, guys. The case for skimflation.
22:15Here we go. First of all, for years, big American chocolate companies, including Hershey's, have actually lobbied the federal government to let them switch in vegetable oil for cocoa butter and still call their products milk chocolate. The industry is like, please, please, please, you got to help us out. And the FDA says no. If you skimp on the cocoa, you cannot call it milk chocolate.
22:40Greg Rosalsky:So why would you skimp? Like, surely chocolate makers don't want to have to call their stuff chocolate candy or chocolate compound. So why even do it? Well, to understand that, we need to dive into the global chocolate supply chain. So there's been a dependency on the Ivory Coast and Ghana to supply a massive percent of the world's chocolate. Yeah, most of the world's cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa. And a few years ago, there was this funky weather. We're talking long droughts and extreme heat and also excessive rainfall. And that smothered cocoa production. And in April of 2024, the global price of cocoa went cuckoo.
23:26The price of cocoa butter, rather than being$3 ,000 a ton, went to$25 ,000 a ton. Holy moly. Yeah. That's a big difference. Okay. This was record highs. So the last time cocoa prices were high, you know, at like nosebleed levels was in 1977. And now you have prices that are triple that level.
23:51Greg Rosalsky:And then President Trump also slapped high tariffs on Ghana and the Ivory Coast on top of the already cuckoo for cocoa prices. And Judy says, like, put yourself in the shoes of a chocolate manufacturer here. I mean, it's impossible. Now, when ingredient costs go through the roof, companies have three basic options. They can raise prices, you know, kind of like inflation on a product. But, of course, consumers do not love it when prices go up. Or they can shrink the amount of stuff they provide in their packages, which is known as shrinkflation. But consumers also don't love it when, you know, the chip bag is now smaller or half empty.
24:30Greg Rosalsky:Or they can skimp on the quality of their product, what we at Planet Money, really Greg, our newsletter writer, have dubbed skimplation. Skimping on the ingredients, it's all pretty sneaky. It's all subtle. Some consumers, you know, with less refined chocolate and peanut butter palettes and, you know, you, Sarah or me or Brad Reese, they might not even notice, you know. And this recent cocoa shortage was so extreme that Judy says chocolate makers, they pulled all the levers. They did raise prices. They did shrink the packaging and they had to reformulate. We got skimplation. We got shrinkplation.
25:10Greg Rosalsky:We got inflation. They hate us. on all fronts. Which like, okay, understandable, but wait just right there. Because okay, right? Like, yeah, drought and rainfall, West Africa, production problems with the cocoa global supply chain and yada, yada, yada, you know, affected chocolate. What about the peanut butter though? Because peanuts are grown in the United States for the most part. Like, why are they skimping on the peanut butter? Why do we have peanut butter cream right now? Like, what is the argument for that? Come on. Okay, okay. So it's not only about the price. Yeah, it's not just about the price.
25:49Judy says maybe they changed the peanut butter so it works with the new chocolate formula. A product that's made with vegetable oil that doesn't have the same texture. Is there going to be seepage and, you know, how does it stand up in packaging? And Hershey's actually told us a version of this too. And this is bringing us to the rest of Hershey's case that this is not skimflation. Okay. They said, quote, different shapes simply require a different recipe to hold their form. And for labeling purposes, that's referred to as a cream.
26:24Greg Rosalsky:As a cream. But they did say that even when they create different Reese's shapes and forms, that they still start with, quote, fresh ground peanuts, which is an important distinction because to be clear here, peanut butter cream just means that Reese's is using less than 90 % peanuts, which is the FDA rule for calling yourself peanut butter. So I don't know, maybe they're using 80 % peanuts or 50 % peanuts. So when we say that they are not using real peanut butter or real milk chocolate, it's not like they're using fake peanuts or fake cocoa. though it's more like they're using less peanuts and less cocoa.
27:03Hershey's told us 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.
27:18Greg Rosalsky:Yeah. And Judy says maybe there's a broader business strategy going on here too. Okay. Because Reese's consumers aren't all the same. And she says Hershey's is like differentiating their products for different segments of the market. I would say look at designer clothing. Think of like a luxury clothing brand. They have their haute couture. Their fanciest clothesline. For Reese's, that's the classic peanut butter cup. Silky, smooth, luxurious. Still, legally, milk chocolate and peanut butter. Then they have more like middle of the road clothes. That are selling mid-market. You know, like at a Macy's or something.
27:57Okay, like mid-market Reese's. That's probably like the Reese's Sticks or something. I mean, they're pretty good, but they're kind of just like an imposter Kit Kat. I mean, like, what are we doing? And then they have offshoots for like the discount stores.
28:13Greg Rosalsky:You know, the stuff you'd find at like a Ross. And maybe for Reese's, that would be like the mini eggs unwrapped. And for those eggs, Reese's can use the chocolate compounds or the peanut butter cream because those mini eggs, they're just not for me. The Reese's purist. They're more of like a down market product. Yeah. Judy says these products may be more meant for kids. And kids, they don't care. I'd like to think my son would notice. I would like to think that we are raising children to notice the difference. Same. I definitely taste the difference. I'm still trying to get it off my tongue. All right.
28:50Greg Rosalsky:So maybe some of this is the result of trying to make new products and shapes for different kinds of consumers. But if it has been about skimping in response to sky high cocoa prices, there's a chance that our national skimpy chocolate nightmare might soon be over. Because cost pressures have partly subsided over the last year. In November, the Trump administration, citing affordability concerns, exempted cocoa beans from tariffs. And the production problems in West Africa seem to at least have been partially resolved. Since its peak in early 2025, the global price of cocoa has fallen more than 60%.
29:31Greg Rosalsky:So maybe, maybe chocolate companies will go back to the real deal milk chocolate. Right, Judy? I'm going to throw something at you, okay? Okay. In the 80s, the major soft drink manufacturers, Oh, Pepsi. Switched from 100 % sugar to high fructose corn syrup. That was in response to high sugar prices. But soda makers, they never looked back. Judy, it sounds like you're saying you don't think these chocolate manufacturers are going to go back to the original milk chocolate formula. That's what that example is telling me. Some will not. It really depends on the economics and what their sales are. And if consumers are buying it.
30:20Greg Rosalsky:Yeah, are consumers buying it? Are they even noticing it? I mean, certainly you would not want someone announcing to the world like, hey, this isn't real milk chocolate anymore. But that is what Brad Reese is doing. He has mounted what you might call a skimp shaming campaign against Hershey's. I think I'm having an impact. I really do. They're on notice. Are they not on notice? Yeah, it seems like they're on notice. This was not on my radar and I actually love Reese's. And now, to be honest now that because of you, when I go to the store, I do look at the ingredients. Brad's been writing these open letters.
31:01He's making media appearances. He's documenting Hershey's ingredient lists and their changes. And he's been updating his website and his LinkedIn. in. But he's hoping his skimp-shaming tour can end soon, so he can go back and enjoy retired life. I can go, I can do my karaoke at Wednesdays at Benny's on the beach. That's what I want to get back to. I don't know where this is going to lead, because it is a lot of work, and I'm not against doing a lot of work. But also, I need to take my naps, and I need to, I want to have a simple, enjoyable life. but Reese's is no longer the enjoyable part of my life anymore.
31:42It's now, I'll just go out and just be a normal person wearing a normal shirt and won't be talking about Reese's. Brad's hope is that consumers notice the new formula and that they won't settle for skimpy chocolate and that Hershey's is forced to go back. Oh my gosh, I just got an alert, Sarah. We're working on the story right now. This is breaking news for us. What happened? Hershey, this is from Bloomberg Business. Hershey will change the chocolate in a small portion of its Reese's and Hershey's products. The latest twist in a squabble over its ingredients initiated by a grandson of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup creator.
32:29Brad did it? Brad did it. Okay, so let's put a pin in whether Brad did it or not. But, uh, but yeah, Hershey's, it announced it will stop using chocolate compound coating in all of its products.
32:42Greg Rosalsky:The moment the news broke, we, of course, called up Brad Reese. I have some news. What news? What are you talking about? What's going on? Brad was out of the town. We were talking to him on the phone, on speaker, and he had not yet heard the news. I already, I already got my computer to sleep. Yeah. So I'm, I'm out partying right now. So yeah. Um, this is today. This just came out. The company said, this is Hershey's. It will swap out a chocolate compound coating as part of a return to using quote classic milk and dark chocolate recipes and quote in all Reese's and Hershey's products by 2027. What?
33:22Wait a second. They're giving themselves two years. Wait, so you're not happy, Brad? I mean, come on. The brand will be ruined by that.
33:31Greg Rosalsky:We did tell Hershey's that this recent ingredient change by them seemed like a pretty big contradiction to what they told us before, that the compound stuff and the cream stuff was all about innovation that consumers love. They suggested it was not a contradiction. They said, quote, as consumer preferences continue to change about ingredients and tastes, we continue to evolve to meet these needs. Now, as to whether Brad caused this to happen, in the Bloomberg article, it does seem that Hershey, it says the Hershey chief executive officer, Kirk Tanner, said he made the decision to change the ingredients shortly after he took the role last summer and well before Brad Reese aired his complaints.
34:14So I don't think...
34:19Oh, that's hilarious. Okay. All right. Wait, where are you? Johnny Browns and Delray Bates. Are you singing karaoke? Well, no, that's later tonight, Tin Roof at 9 o 'clock. What are you going to sing? I'll probably be singing Nightlife by Willie Nelson.
34:35Greg Rosalsky:You want to give us a little? Oh, the nightlife, it's not a good life, but it's my life. Listen to what the blues are saying.
34:52Greg Rosalsky:Do you love the banter between your Planet Money co-hosts? The chemistry. Just bantering back and forth. It's like tennis. We're going back and forth, just bantering away. Want to see this all happen live on a stage as we do a live taping of a brand new episode? Great. You are in luck. You should come see us on the Planet Money book tour. I'm going to be in Santa Monica on April 16th with Jack Corbett from our famous, famous Planet Money TikTok. You can see him doing his thing live on stage. Yeah, we're going to be so many places. D.C., Seattle, Boulder, South. San Francisco, Toronto. We're going international, baby.
35:33We're going to the moon. We're going all over the place, baby. Let's get wild.
35:39Greg Rosalsky:The book is called Planet Money, A Guide to the Economic Forces that Shape Your Life. and every stop is going to be unique and different with different hosts, different guests. If you get a ticket to one of our live events, you will also get a book tour exclusive tote bag. We know you love a tote bag, listeners. Okay, find the show nearest to you at the link in our show notes or go to planetmoneybook.com. And thanks for supporting us. This episode of Planet Money was produced by the wonderful James Sneed. Cue the chocolate investigation sound again one more time for the people. It was edited by Kenny Malone, backtracked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Sina Lafredo.
36:20Alex Goldmark is our executive producer. I'm Sierra Gonzalez. And I'm Greg Wazowski. This is NPR. Thanks for listening. This message comes from Easy Cater, making it easy for organizations to order food for meetings and events from favorite restaurants, set up meal programs for their employees, and manage food spend all in one place. at easycater.com. This message comes from ID Tech. ID Tech is where kids 7 to 17 find their people. The Camp Crunch Labs IRL, BattleBots, and Game Design people. Visit idtech.com and use code IDTech to save$150. This message comes from NPR sponsor BetterHelp. Financial stress affects more than just your bank account.
37:05It can impact your sleep, your relationships, and your overall mental health. If money worries are weighing on you, you're not alone, and it doesn't mean you've failed. Therapy isn't about financial advice. It's about working through the anxiety, shame, or overwhelming thoughts that money stress can bring. When life feels overwhelming, therapy can help. Get 10 % off at BetterHelp.com slash NPR.
From the publisher
When ingredient costs skyrocket, companies have three basic options: They can raise their prices (a sort of product-specific inflation), shrink the size of the products (often called “shrinkflation”), or, sometimes, find more creative ways to reduce costs by degrading the quality of their products - which our very own Greg Rosalsky has dubbed as “skimpflation.” The latest alleged culprit? Hershey’s.
The Hershey Company is using ingredients in some of their Reese’s candies that — legally — they cannot call milk chocolate or peanut butter. This has infuriated Brad Reese, a grandson of H.B. Reese, the inventor of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
On today’s show, why chocolate makers might be skimping on chocolate and peanut butter, what else might explain these ingredients, and how Brad Reese has launched a skimp-shaming campaign to get Hershey’s to go back to using classic Reese’s ingredients.
And – EXCLUSIVE – you’ll hear Planet Money break some big news to third-generation peanut butter cup scion Brad Reese.
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This episode was hosted by Greg Rosalsky and Sarah Gonzalez. It was produced by James Sneed. It was edited by Kenny Malone, fact-checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money’s executive producer.
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