So… Hershey’s is using an old trick to reduce the amount of chocolate in its chocolate bars. I have post-ed about this before, but it’s coming back around on the old deception merry-go-round. It’s not illegal, nor is it hidden. It’s a plain-sight psych-out…
How do you saw money when making a chocolate bar? Remove 75 percent of the chocolate and fill it with cheaper sugary cream. That’s Hershey’s latest solution to the monumental cost of what once was its main raw ingredient: cocoa…
Chocolate or Candy?
I’ve long pondered the propriety of the terms ‘Chocolate Bar’ and ‘Candy Bar’. You can truthfully say, “All Chocolate Bars are Candy bars, but not all Candy Bars are Chocolate bars!”
Ever since my grandpa gifted me my first Neilson’s Jersey Milk chocolate bar, I’ve been aware of the difference. A solid chocolate product is a true chocolate bar. All others – adulterated with creams, nougats, caramel, wafers and crispies – are merely ‘candy’ bars.
Hershey’s dilemma…
Last year, Hershey’s tried to sneak chocolate substitutes into its products. Fans rebelled. And the grandson of Reese’s founder wrote a letter to the New York Times reveling the deception. His granddad’s famous Peanut Butter Cup was no longer coated in chocolate. Instead, the label ment-ioned, in small print, that it featured a ‘chocolatey’ coating.
“It didn’t taste like milk chocolate,” Brad Reese told NBC News. “It tasted cheap.”
Hershey’s walked back the change amid really, really bad publicity. And promised to remove ‘chocolate alternatives’ from all its products by early 2027.
A new tack
But the Chocolate legend has now quietly taken a new tack to save on its cocoa costs and, at the same time, try to convince fans it’s not the chocolate but the filling that matters.
In what the official news release says, “Hershey’s Creme Bar [is] a new chocolate bar available in two flavor-forward varieties: Salted Caramel and Affogato. Made with smooth milk chocolate and rich creme fillings, the new bar puts a delicious twist on the Hershey’s chocolate experience fans already know and love.”
But they are NOT chocolate bars. They are merely candy bars.
Yes, they are coated with real chocolate. But they are 75 percent non-chocolate – including artificial flavours and colours, and a pile of added sugar.
‘A fresh, new flavour experience…’
“The Hershey’s Creme Bar launch is more than introducing a new chocolate bar,” Katrina Vatter, Sen-ior Brand Manager, said in a statement. “It’s about celebrating the small choices that help people express themselves and create moments of happiness throughout their day. […] Hershey’s Creme Bars were designed to inspire discovery, self-expression, and shareable moments that feel uniquely your own.”
Okay… But what ‘s all that marketing gobbledygook about, ‘discovery, self-expression, and shareable moments…’? It’s a long reach to there from simply eating a candy bar. Sounds more like smoke and mirrors – and an expression of Hershey’s desperation to convince fans that the new products are actually worth the $2 they’re asking for them.
My take
I’ve already stipulated that the new Hershey’s bars aren’t breaking any laws – advertising- or ingred-ient-wise. But they’ve discovered that solid chocolate bars like their tiny little 1.55 oz / 44 g ‘classic’ Milk Chocolate bar aren’t selling well, even at a seemingly low price of $1.25. The substance just isn’t there anymore. But all the candy bar makers are doing it, so…
The new filled-format bars are 2.2 oz. / 62.5 g – 50 percent larger – and are obviously designed to make fans think they’re getting more value. And while their attractions for consumers are few and slim, the attraction of the format for Hershey’s is clearly cheaper manufacturing costs and bigger profits…
~ Maggie J.