Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Inventor’s Grandson Accuses Hershey of Replacing Ingredients

Brad Reese, the grandson of the late famed candy founder, is upset with Hershey’s alleged changes to Reese’s candies.

Published: 2/20/2026, 8:28:24 AM EST

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Inventor’s Grandson Accuses Hershey of Replacing Ingredients — Reese's Candies are shown in Carmel, Ind., on Feb. 18, 2026. (Michael Conroy/AP Photo)

Brad Reese, whose grandfather invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, isn’t happy with Hershey Co.

Reese accused the Hershey Co. of “quietly replacing” chocolate and peanut butter ingredients for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He explained the issue via LinkedIn on Feb. 14, and included a letter to Hershey’s corporate brand manager.

"How does The Hershey Company 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?" Reese wrote on LinkedIn.

Hershey owns Reese’s and produces candies and snacks under the Reese’s brand name. That includes longtime popular candies, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Pieces.

Reese, who has his own website to promote his late grandfather’s brand, claims that Hershey stopped using milk chocolate and peanut butter for the Reese’s candies. Instead, Hershey is using compound coatings and peanut butter-style creme.

"Reese's became iconic because my grandfather built it on real ingredients and real integrity," Reese wrote via LinkedIn on Tuesday.

Reese’s grandfather, H.B. Reese was a Hershey employee before he started the R&R Candy Company in 1919, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups came around in 1982. Brad Reese keeps an eye on the products, and he recently told FOX Business that he can tell the difference.

"I went and bought a bag, and I took a couple bites, and I had to throw the bag in the garbage," Reese said. "I couldn't eat it. It was not edible, and I looked at the packaging … and there was no milk chocolate, there was no peanut butter—it was all vegetable oils and fats."

"I can't go on representing being the grandson of Reese's when the product is total bunk," Brad Reese told FOX Business. "You have no idea how devastating it is."

In an email statement to NTD News, Hershey said some recipe adjustments were made to meet consumer demand.

“Our iconic Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are made the same way they always have been, starting with roasting fresh peanuts to make our unique, one-of-a-kind peanut butter that is then combined with milk chocolate,” Hershey’s said in its statement.

“As we’ve grown and expanded the Reese’s product line, we make product recipe adjustments that allow us to make new shapes, sizes, and innovations that Reese’s fans have come to love and ask for, while always protecting the essence of what makes Reese’s unique and special: the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter.”

Hershey produces 25 million Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups daily at the company's factory, according to the brand’s website. Hershey has produced Reese's candies and snacks since 1963, after the Reese’s sons sold the company to Hershey.