HERSHEY, Pa. -- The Hershey Co.'s iconic milk chocolate bar is getting a makeover after 120 years, Fox Business said. The confectionery giant is implementing a multi-year plan—announced in February—to overhaul all of its products, which will ultimately contain "simple and easy-to-understand" ingredients.
“It all starts with the consumer changing. They're really involved in what they’re eating and they want to know the ingredients in their foods. And, we want to be out in front of that," Will Papa, vice president and chief research and development officer at The Hershey Co., told the news outlet. He has been at the forefront of this new transition.
“Job one is the Hershey’s bar,” said Papa. “Then Hershey’s Kisses and Reese’s.”
He says they never used high-fructose corn syrup in the classic Hershey’s bar, but are removing other ingredients consumers won't recognize.
“We’re removing PGPR (Polyglycerol polyricinoleate) and vanillin from our chocolate bars by the end of the year.”
PGPR is an emulsifier derived from castor bean oil and often used to improve processing characteristics of chocolate. An emulsifier is an ingredient that is typically used in food production as a way to keep fat and water from separating in the product.
“It’s basically used to help make the product stay together and plays a huge role in molding the chocolate."
Vanillin is a common artificial ingredient obtained from plant-derived materials, which provides a "vanilla flavoring" to foods.
“We’re replacing it with natural vanilla,” he said. “A lot of these ingredients pre-date me. Some of the artificial ingredients help make the products easier to manufacture. Easier to mold and flow better. Historically, artificial ingredients can be more consistent, too. You can deliver more of a consistent product with them. So, the big challenge with real vanilla is its variability in delivering the same product consistently.”
The company is also giving their consumers full transparency of the ingredients they use in their products, the report said, by listing a full glossary on their website.
“If we can’t remove a certain ingredient, we will tell you why we can’t on our website,” said Papa. “This is a multi-year plan--a journey really. It will take time. The biggest challenge when you change the formulation is balance. You can’t shift the flavor in any way. We don’t want to change the appearance or aroma either. And, we’re doing this all across our portfolio so we want to make sure we deliver on every one of them.”
The Hershey Co., based in Hershey, Pa., is a global confectionery leader, maker of chocolate, sweets, mints and other snacks. The company, which has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues, includes such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Brookside.
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