The History of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut butter has been a popular snack since it was created over one hundred years ago. While this is a great choice for cookies, muffins and even just basic sandwiches, the creation of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups took this sweet delicious spread to a whole new level. Here is just a brief insight into the history of these iconic chocolate treats.

In the Beginning:

When it comes to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Australia based consumers may be forgiven for thinking this milk chocolate snack is only a decade or two old. However, this is not the case and the original Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were created back in 1928. The inventor Harry Burnett Reese was originally a dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton Hershey of the Hershey Candy company. However, he found himself inspired by Hershey and made the decision to quit dairy farming and begin his own candy company. The H.B Reese Candy Co had humble beginnings in the basement of Reese’s home in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Reese was originally working at a Hershey Corporation dairy farm and he experimented using Hershey chocolate in his new confection creations. The peanut butter cups were considered to be his most popular candy line and eventually all the other products were discontinued.

The Involvement of the Hershey Chocolate Corporation When Reese died in May 1956, the ownership of his company passed to his six sons. However, in July 1963, the brothers decided to merge the H.B Reese Candy Co with the Hershey Chocolate Corporation. This decision was a tax free stock for stock merger, which left each of the six brothers with 666,316 common shares in Hershey. These had a value of $23.5 million in 1963, so it demonstrated the massive impact these humble little chocolate and peanut butter cups had on the confectionary industry. The H.B Reese Candy Co is still maintained as a subsidiary of the Hershey corporation and in 2012, it was ranked as the United States best selling candy brand, with sales totalling $2.6 billion USD. It was also ranked as the fourth best global selling candy brand, taking the sales total up to $2.679 billion USD. This means that only 2.8 percent of the company’s sales come from outside of the United States.

Product Variety:

These days there is a wide product variety for the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Australia based consumers may only be able to source the traditional milk chocolate cups, but American consumers can enjoy white chocolate, fudge, dark chocolate, banana, marshmallow and even hazelnut peanut butter cups. There are over a dozen varieties, with the company producing limited edition varieties for holidays and events such as Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter.

If you are trying to source Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Australia based consumers should contact us. We have a wide selection of chocolates, sweets and candies, including American imports like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Our team would be delighted to help you to find the perfect sweet treat for any occasion.