Reese's Heir Calls Hershey's 2027 Recipe Fix 'a Stall' in Family Feud

Hershey will restore classic milk chocolate to all Reese's products by 2027, but the inventor's grandson calls the pledge "a stall." Brad Reese, 71, has spent eight months accusing the Hershey Co. of cheapening the candy his grandfather created. His cousin Becky Hilgers, who speaks for the rest of the family, wants him to stop.

Reese's generates roughly $3 billion a year, about a quarter of Hershey's sales, according to a person familiar with the company's operations. It has been Hershey's top seller since 1969. The family's stake dates to 1963, when H.B. Reese's six sons merged his company into Hershey for 666,316 shares, a deal worth about $23 million at the time per Hershey's annual report.

How did the fight start?

On Feb. 14, Reese opened a bag of Reese's Unwrapped Mini Hearts, threw them out, and posted an open letter on LinkedIn. The label read "chocolate candy" and peanut butter crème, not milk chocolate and peanut butter.

"How does The Hershey Co. continue to position Reese's as its flagship brand, a symbol of trust, quality and leadership, while quietly replacing the very ingredients (Milk Chocolate + Peanut Butter) that built Reese's trust in the first place?" he wrote.

The post found an audience. "I had one recently, and it tasted gross and waxy," one user wrote on X. Another declared "Goodbye Hersheys forever." Hershey's February response said the peanut butter cups "are made the same way they always have been." Reese says that dodged his point about the hearts. "They hijacked the conversation," he told Fortune. "I've gotten zero response from the Hershey company. They've been totally radio silent."

What actually changed?

Hershey says the classic cups — two-, three- and four-cup packs, king size, and seasonal pumpkins — never changed. The extensions did: foil-wrapped Valentine's and Easter shapes, Reese's Minis, Thins, and Sticks moved to a cocoa butter equivalent coating, which swaps vegetable oil for some cocoa butter, costs less, and by law must be labeled "chocolate candy." The "crème" label reflects federal standards and filling texture, Hershey says.

At its March 31 investor day, Hershey said all Hershey's and Reese's products would match "their brand's classic milk and dark chocolate recipes" by 2027. CEO Kirk Tanner, who arrived in August 2025 after record cocoa prices, told Bloomberg the change touches less than 3% of Reese's products. The 2027 Valentine's molded hearts already run on the classic recipe, according to the insider; Minis, Thins and Sticks follow next year.

Reese dismisses it all. "It's a brilliant publicity, public relations stunt," he said. "They could go back to the original recipe in three days. They're just kicking the can down the road." A Hershey spokesperson countered that product changes require consumer testing and coordination across sourcing, manufacturing and packaging, "with packaging changes alone taking six to eight months."

What is at stake for Hershey?

Candy prices are up 44% over five years, roughly twice the grocery inflation rate. Halloween candy sales fell 6.7% in the month ending Oct. 17, per NielsenIQ data reported by the AP. Hershey shares peaked at $239.48 and have dropped about 30% since. In the third quarter, reported Thursday, Hershey charged about 13% more for North American candy while volumes fell about 11%. "Our second-half demand creation initiatives are gaining momentum, even as consumers grow more cautious," Tanner said.

In April, after Reese called the plan a stunt on NewsNation, Hershey gave Fox Business a family statement: the family had "no involvement in, nor do we support" his claims. "It's the most recognizable brand that Hershey Company has," Hilgers said. "We trust the Hershey Company to be the caretaker of the brand." Her favorite is Take5, one of the bars with the new coating. She keeps Reese's in a candy dish for her grandson.

Reese is unmoved. "You can't trust the Reese's logo," he said. "I feel total betrayal, and I'm not gonna sit idly by while they trade on my grandfather's legacy." He notes a Mars peanut butter cup "would be an instant competitor, and I think Hershey would be toast" — a threat more real now that Mars already runs Snickers ads built around a focus group of people named Reese.