The grandson of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups creator is slamming the Hershey Co. for allegedly switching to cheaper ingredients to make the iconic snacks – and his accusations are sparking fierce pushback from his relatives, The Post has learned.
Brad Reese, 70 – whose grandfather HB Reese invented the famous treat – claimed Hershey has swapped out milk chocolate for cheap compound coating made from vegetable oils. He also claims Hershey has sneakily replaced real peanut butter with peanut-butter flavored cremes.
“I can’t just let it go. They’re lowering the quality of ingredients, charging the same price and probably giving you a smaller product size,” Reese, a retiree living in West Palm Beach, told The Post. “I’m really embarrassed as a member of the Reese family.”
The Hershey Co. told The Post its original Peanut Butter Cups are still made with peanut butter and milk chocolate – though it has made “recipe adjustments” in new products that “allow us to make new shapes, sizes and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for.”
“What consumer that you know of has said, ‘Hey, I don’t want milk chocolate in my Reese’s products anymore. I prefer compound coating!’” Reese shot back with a laugh, adding that the statement does not specifically deny changing ingredients in other Reese’s products.
His LinkedIn posts blasting the alleged quality compromises quickly went viral – and his cousin, whose daughter works for the Hershey Company, pleaded with him to stop in a heated text message.
“Brad, this is your cousin Becky. You have created a nightmare for our family and the company,” read a copy of the text message obtained by The Post, which matched the phone number for his cousin, Becky Hilgers.
“You might be in legal trouble because you’re [sic] unfounded negative comments have affected the price of the stock. It’s embarrassing to the entire Reese clan. Please stop!”
The stock dipped about 0.9% Tuesday. It was poised to recover those losses on Wednesday.
Hilgers – a realtor based in the Hershey, Pa., area – argued that Reese is just being “spiteful,” acknowledging she probably upset him with her text message.
“He’s an attention-getter,” Hilgers told The Post. “He walks around everywhere he goes with a Reese’s jacket on just so people will make conversation with him. He’s bitter because his father blew through all the money he got and there was nothing left for his children.”
Reese shot back that Hilgers is just concerned about Hershey’s stock price.
Reese alleged several top-selling products – including Reese’s White Chocolate Cups, Fast Break, Take5, Nutrageous and Sticks – are now made with coatings that use so much cheap vegetable oil, they can no longer be classified as chocolate.
Food safety standards across international agencies, including the FDA, require a certain amount of cocoa butter, not vegetable oil, to label a product as real chocolate.
Reese chalked it up to an attempt to boost profit margins.
“I understand when it comes to my relatives’ pocketbooks, they would be concerned,” Reese told The Post. “The greed of people and their money. I think they’d be okay with the ingredients being watered down as long as they’re gonna make more money.”
The breaking point came when Reese purchased a bag of peanut butter-and-chocolate hearts, which were a brand-new release from the company for Valentine’s Day, he said.
“I had to throw it away. It wasn’t edible. I’ve never had to throw a Reese’s product in the garbage,” Reese told The Post. “So that was my wake-up call, when I realized – wow, you can’t even eat this stuff.”
The official Hershey website sells similarly-named products like “White Creme Peanut Butter Easter Eggs” and “Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Creme Eggs.”
Asked to comment on Reese’s allegations about ingredient changes, Hilgers said: “I’m sure it’s not exactly what it was in 1957 or whatever, you know what I mean, but I have no idea. I can’t tell you yes or no to that, or even where he got that.”
But she added that her cousin’s vocal opposition to the company is nothing new, even though he’s “probably not stepped inside a Reese’s plant in 30 or 40 years.”
Reese said it’s largely a matter of sneaky labeling from Reese’s, calling ingredients “peanut butter creme” instead of “peanut butter,” or “white creme” instead of “white chocolate.”
The Valentine’s Day product he purchased, for example, is sold as “Unwrapped Chocolate Peanut Butter Creme Mini Hearts” on the Walmart website.
Reese added that Hilgers is also likely concerned that her daughter, who works for Hershey, “takes a lot of flack” from coworkers over his comments.
“It’s just ridiculous. He’s been told in the past by the legal department at Hershey: Cease and desist with this nonsense,” Hilgers told The Post.
Hilgers’ daughter did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
