With Economy Worsening, Hershey’s Starts Selling Mockolate

Posted by Kim on Sep. 22, 2008

Last week, our country faced major changes as a result of the worsening economy. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Bank of America purchased Merrill-Lynch. The Federal Reserve took over AIG in an $85 billion bailout. Even worse though, was Hershey’s decision to stop doing what they do best – manufacturing chocolate. Last Friday, TODAY reported that Hershey, in an effort to cut costs, swapped cocoa butter for vegetable oil in certain products (e.g. Whatchamacallit, Milk Duds, Mr. Goodbar, and Krackel):

“The removal of cocoa butter violates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of milk chocolate, so subtle changes have appeared on the labels of the Hershey’s products with altered recipes. Products once labeled “milk chocolate” now say “chocolate candy,” “made with chocolate” or “chocolatey.”

Some say the label changes are too difficult to spot.

“A lot of people don’t notice it. The package looks exactly the same,” said Cybele May, who has chronicled the changes in detail on her Candy Blog. “I feel betrayed by Hershey’s. They’re giving me an inferior product and they’re not even telling me …”

Blind taste tests revealed that consumers also didn’t notice a difference in taste between the chocolate and the “mockolate.” So, I thought I would try it for myself. I went down to my trusty neighborhood convenience store and bought a Whatchamacallit – the package read, “rich chocolatey coating.” Honestly, I can’t taste the difference, but still – where are the antioxidants? And why doesn’t it melt in my mouth as smoothly? I feel betrayed too Cybele. At least Hersheys kept the cocoa in their Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Still, I think it’s time for a brand change – back to M&Ms and Snickers for me.

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  • Dana
    Fantastic post Kim and may I say thanks for bringing in some of your research product so that we can all taste the Hershey's deception...
  • Winn
    Man, the delicious world of milk chocolate has been dealt a few swift blows recently: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087...
  • Kristina
    This reminds me of a comment from Popper's book about chocolate purists. Maybe you can get him to add it. (yes, he has infiltrated every part of our lives, even Baylen's blog)
  • cynic
    So you can't taste the difference, but you feel betrayed?

    Look. If the Hershey's products still used cocoa butter but tasted worse, that would be cause for complaint. If they substituted vegetable oil and consequently tasted better, that'd be cause for celebration. This is only cause for indifference.

    This is candy we're talking about, the one thing on this earth that should be judged solely by its taste. There's no nutritional value in a Mr. Goodbar to begin with. As long as it tastes the same, and hasn't gotten any worse for you, who cares what goes into it?
  • LoveThatChocolate
    So does this effect the Dark chocolate as well? Very disappointed. I can't believe they couldn't cut back some where else. Maybe in the packaging or something. I really don't need fancy packaging.
  • ylem
    Don't buy Hersheys. They moved their manufacturing plant from Hershey, PA to Mexico which put a lot of people out of work. That's when everything changed in their products. They also make Reeses peanut butter cups. They've changed too: very little chocolate cup and the filling doesn't have much peanut butter mixed in, if any.
  • Factcheck
    Where are the antioxidants? The same place they were before this change. Anti-oxidants are present in the cocoa powder, not the cocoa butter. Replacing the latter with vegetable oil solids doesn't affect anti-oxidant content. But honestly, this misses the point, because eating candy bars will give you almost no anti-oxidants in the first place. After all, when you eat a candy bar, you're basically eating fat and sugar with a little cocoa powder mixed in. Second, some studies suggest that eating milk chocolate, or consuming chocolate and milk together negates any health benefits of anti-oxidants present in the chocolate. So, to get both (1) lots of anti-oxidants and (2) to benefit from them, you need to eat either dark chocolate or cocoa powder. The dark chocolate can have non-cocoa butter fats, it doesn't matter (though it's not as tasty). It can have lots of sugar or not, it doesn't matter (as far as anti-oxidants are concerned!)

    Now, as for this "mockulate" having a different mouthfeel; i.e. not melting like chocolate ( = cocoa powder, cocoa butter and sugar), well, that's right. But honestly, I don't think that this change will affect the taste of the candies, as opposed to a hershey bar, much at all.

    See:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate#Circulat...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_butter

    and perhaps

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouthfeel
  • H
    read the label. M&M's is not pure chocolate inside--it has a good percentage of peanuts in it.
  • Thanks for the mention, Baylen!

    cynic said, "Look. If the Hershey’s products still used cocoa butter but tasted worse, that would be cause for complaint. If they substituted vegetable oil and consequently tasted better, that’d be cause for celebration. This is only cause for indifference."

    I'm saying they do taste worse and I don't think that the Watchamacallit is the best demonstration of that. Try a Mr. Goodbar or Krackel ... get a bag of Miniatures and compare the quasi-chocolate in the Krackel to the Hershey's Milk Chocolate. (Whether you like it or not is another matter, but it's noticeable.)

    There is nutritional value in a Mr. Goodbar, in fact during the depression it was sold as "a tasty lunch" and contained protein, calcium, fiber and sugar. Not really a great lunch, but for a nickel in hard times it was better than other things you could get for a five cents. But I agree, if you're eating for pleasure, it should be pleasurable.

    Seriously, come back here after you've had a Mr. Goodbar and let me know how that went. Hershey's says that customers prefer it made with palm oil.

    ylem - Hershey's didn't move their manufacturing from PA to Mexico. They moved their manufacturing from CA & Canada to Mexico. The PA plant is still chugging away.
  • Admiral of the world.
    This is terrible. As a consumer, I do feel fooled.

    But what next?
    water in our ice cream?!?! ("triple churrrrned")
    more ethanol in our gas?!?!? (*coughcough*)
    lack of sufactants in our cleaning products? (just use water- you cant see the difference!)

    sigh. this would not have happened in Europe.

    thanks for bringing this travesty to our attention!
  • You should check what has happened to Breyers Ice Cream, now made with "modified milk ingredients"; see my commentary "The Identity Theft of Breyers Ice Cream" at http://www.genekeyes.com/blog.html#Breyers
  • Sarah
    Hershey's "chocolate" is not chocolate in the first place. It has a horrible taste and its colour doesn't even resemble the colour of the chocolate. I'm amazed that the American public got so used to this inferior product that they came to think of Hershey's product as the real thing. What's up with that sour taste in kisses? Try some good European chocolates. There is no way Europeans won't be able to tell the difference between chocolate and mocolate, because the chocolate sold in Europe is actually real.
  • Choco
    Actually, EU regulations are WORSE on this case than the FDA -- all cadburry and other types of European chocolate are allowed to have up to 5% of chocolate butter substitutes before they don't count as choclate.

    Go figure?
  • Amanda
    Mars has pledged to use 100% chocolate. Interesting read:

    http://www.marshealthyliving.com/chocolate.jsp
  • No, no, no! Not the Whatchamacallit! It was already under-appreciated and now this! No, no, no...

    I love your blog, btw. I've added your link to my blog. Might you check out mine?

    www.saltysourspicysweet.blogspot.com
  • Dave
    I'm allergic to milk, and was unpleasantly surprised with an asthma attack after eating Hershey's "All Natural EXTRA DARK Pure Dark Chocolate." Usually dark chocolate means - no milk, and I couldn't figure out what had provoked my coughing. But when I looked at the label Hershey's dark chocolate includes milk fat and milk.

    I used to like Hershey's but have lost all respect for the company, even though they did send me a refund for the cost of a bar of chocolate when I complained to the company. But they haven't changed their recipe.

    @#%@<#%#@

    Dave in North Carolina
  • Desperate times call for desperate measures. Good thing that they're still in business. I just hope that chocolate companies as well as other business that are hurting in the recent economic recession would quickly and fully recover from its choking grasp. We shouldn't focus on the forceful change that companies undergo, but rather have high hopes for them in getting back to the best that they once were.
  • I love hershey's, especially kisses. It's good to know that even the economy is worsening, hershey's still affords to start selling mockolate.
  • Some people think that eating chocolate is a bad idea but chocolate has also good effects for your health, too bad for this company but there are lots of companies that had been affected because of the global crisis we are experiencing right now
  • we cant blame the hershey corporation for almost all companies now a days are experiencing the global crisis, it is good that hershey had come up to an alternative way
  • nvaleo
    Indeed the company is very resourceful, instead of stop producing the product they had found new way or alternative way to make it.
  • Not only are chocolates yummy and healthy, they are also aphrodisiacs that give us energy. We could just keep our fingers crossed and hope that Hershey's and other chocolate manufacturers recover from the economic crisis and get back to their gleaming luster.
  • It is only understandable that the company resorted to such tactics because of the economy's harsh status. Let's just pray that the company, as well as other businesses that have been gravely affected by the recession will fully recover soon.
  • Very nice that there is something that can be replaced with chocolate. i would to taste this. At the same time it helped Hershey to cope up with recession.
  • I love Hershey’s chocolates I dont know why they are losing marking share I like to Hershey’s chocolates alot!

    Thanks and Regards
  • If the Hershey's products still used cocoa butter but tasted worse, that would be cause for complaint. If they substituted vegetable oil and consequently tasted better, that'd be cause for celebration. This is only cause for indifference.
  • we cant blame the hershey corporation for almost all companies now a days are experiencing the global crisis, it is good that hershey had come up to an alternative way...
  • The removal of cocoa butter violates the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s definition of milk chocolate, so subtle changes have appeared on the labels of the Hershey’s products with altered recipes.

    Thanks and Regards
  • Not only are chocolates yummy and healthy, they are also aphrodisiacs that give us energy. We could just keep our fingers crossed and hope that Hershey's and other chocolate manufacturers recover from the economic crisis and get back to their gleaming luster.
  • Not only are chocolates yummy and healthy, they are also aphrodisiacs that give us energy. We could just keep our fingers crossed and hope that Hershey's and other chocolate manufacturers recover from the economic crisis and get back to their gleaming luster.
  • Indeed the company is very resourceful, instead of stop producing the product they had found new way or alternative way to make it.
  • Desperate times call for desperate measures. Good thing that they're still in business. I just hope that chocolate companies as well as other business that are hurting in the recent economic recession would quickly and fully recover from its choking grasp. We shouldn't focus on the forceful change that companies undergo, but rather have high hopes for them in getting back to the best that they once were.
  • Hershey’s is still the best for me
  • Mars has pledged to use 100% chocolate. Interesting read:
  • There really is no difference from not using cocoa butter??
  • read the label. M&M's is not pure chocolate inside--it has a good percentage of peanuts in it.
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