Reese’s heir vs. chocolate skimpflation
4/4/202634 min
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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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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
This message comes from Northwestern Mutual. Their financial professionals will build a tailored plan based on your goals, looking out for blind spots and new opportunities. Get started at nm.com. The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:15
This is Planet Money from NPR.
Greg Rosalsky· Host0:19
Brad would rather be spending his time singing karaoke right now.
Brad Reese· Guest0:26
I, I, I do Rolling Stone, Rolling Stones. I do, uh, Depeche Mode. [laughs] I, I just, I just have fun.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:35
Brad is 70, retired in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Greg Rosalsky· Host0:40
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.
Brad Reese· Guest0:50
I mean, I, I guess, uh, you could call me a big Reese's fan.
Greg Rosalsky· Host0:54
And it's his love of Reese's that is keeping him from his beloved karaoke right now.
Sarah Gonzalez· Host0:59
Yeah, because a little while ago he heard that The Hershey Company had released a new Reese's chocolate.
Brad Reese· Guest1:06
It was Reese's Peanut Butter Mini Hearts Unwrapped, okay? And of course, then I went out and bought one, bought a pouch.
Greg Rosalsky· Host1:15
Brad opens the bag and pops some Mini Hearts in his mouth.
Brad Reese· Guest1:18
And I took two bites and, uh, it was not recognizable. It was just nasty. It was, it was, i- it was not edible.
Greg Rosalsky· Host1:28
Brad spits out