At the centre is Brad Reese, grandson of inventor HB Reese, who created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 1928. In a recent, sharply worded open letter posted to LinkedIn, Reese accused The Hershey Company of “quietly” altering the ingredient architecture of certain Reese’s products — shifting from milk chocolate to compound-style coatings and from peanut butter to peanut-butter-style crème fillings.
His claim: the changes represent not innovation, but erosion.
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Hershey, for its part, maintains that the core Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup recipe in the United States remains unchanged and says adjustments in other products reflect innovation, market needs and regulatory requirements across regions.
For a brand long defined by a simple formula — milk chocolate plus peanut butter — the debate raises broader questions about labelling standards, cocoa economics, and the balance between short-term cost pressures and long-term brand equity.
The Open Letter: ‘A Story Must Be Anchored in Truth’
In his online letter addressed to Todd Scott, Hershey’s Manager of Corporate Brand & Editorial, Reese framed the issue as one of governance and narrative integrity.