I saw this earlier today and thought others might be interested in it.

A Kissables fan, Laurel, who keeps the blog Let Me Say This About That noticed that her candy didn’t taste right earlier this year.

So she wrote to them in February. Read the post: What’s Happened to My Kissables?

part of her letter:

I’m writing to let you know that the last few bags I’ve purchased taste “off” or, more accurately, awful. The chocolate is missing something—as if the manufacturer is skimping on something. There’s something of a “bite” to the flavor—I don’t really know how to describe it, but it tastes like Nestle’s Crunch, which is pretty nasty (in comparison).

I’ve always been delighted with Kissables until about 2 months ago. I’m going to have to use the Kissables I just bought today in cookies or brownies, which is OK, but not like eating them out of the bag. I urge you to have someone inspect whoever it is that’s responsible for manufacturing these Kissables.

Hershey’s wrote back. Read the post: News from Hershey

part of their response:

Thank you for contacting us about HERSHEY®’S KISSABLES™ Candy Coated Mini Kisses®. I am sorry you were disappointed and appreciate you bringing this to our attention.

A great deal of care is used in our manufacturing and distribution processes to ensure that consumers receive quality products. Since the basic ingredients are agricultural products, subtle flavor changes from soil, temperature, and rainfall conditions may sometimes be detected by consumers.

Our products can absorb odors from strongly scented products such as soap, detergents, spices, moth balls and petroleum products. This can happen if the product is stored too closely to such items. Printed instructions on the shipping cases inform all distributors of the proper handling and storage of Hershey’s products.

I’m stunned! They actually said that it wasn’t their fault ... this was at the point where Kissables on the shelves were the new variety. (I found some Valentine’s themed ones at the 99 Cent Store and can vouch that they were the new “chocolate candy” version.) They actually said that it could have been that they were stored next to some mothballs? Couldn’t possible be the lack of cocoa butter?

it’s not much of a surprise, though… i doubt hershey’s is anxious to admit they’ve changed their recipes in the interest of saving a few $$$.  i’ve seen similar responses from other manufacturers… not to derail this topic, but Freschetta -definitely- changed the recipe of their pizza, it doesn’t taste even remotely similar and they denied any difference until i found an older one with a substantially different list of ingredients.

my guess is that hershey’s is happy to splinter the market, use cheap ingredients for the “average” consumer on the assumption that they won’t notice the difference, and everyone else will move to the Bliss line or even Scharffen Berger instead.

Hershey has discontinued Kissables and Reese’s PBC with Caramel.  You will continue to see them on the shelves until the distributors empty their warehouses or they go out of date and are pulled from the shelves.

sdswcu - 12 February 2009 10:01 AM

Hershey has discontinued Kissables and Reese’s PBC with Caramel.  You will continue to see them on the shelves until the distributors empty their warehouses or they go out of date and are pulled from the shelves.

I tried contacting Hershey’s via their consumer contact info on their website.

I simply asked if Kissables & RPBC with Caramel were discontinued.

Instead they told me that Kissables were scanned at two locations near me in the last 90 days and gave me the addresses ... they reminded me that sometimes candy moved around the store according to holiday merchandising plans and if I was looking for something I should talk to the store manager.

They did not answer the question (nor even say anything about Reese’s).

I have noticed that they’re much harder to find and haven’t seen them in the Valentine’s version at all this year.

They are going to continue to be shown as active products available in stores until all of the inventory is sold or goes out of date. Hershey will no longer be manufacturing these products in the future. I’m not sure when the production ends or ended but the shelf life is at least one year from date of production. Convenience stores are being notified of this and some stores are already pulling the products from the set and replacing them with better selling products. Corporate (chain) stores and grocery stores will most likely keep the products on the shelves until they have emptied their warehouse stock.

The single packages of both of those were discontinued from the store I work at

we still carry the Kissables in the larger size back though

I emailed the Hershey’s consumer info folks again and they clarified that Kissables were NOT being discontinued. (Though they didn’t say that they weren’t going to have the holiday versions or single packs any longer.) I’ve also asked another PR guy to look into it and will report back on that.

As stated above they are going to continue to be shown as active products available in stores until all of the inventory is sold or goes out of date. As long as there is inventory in a warehouse they are going to tell you they are still in the stores. Production has ended and when Hershey feels the time is right they may..or may not make an official statement. Keep in mind that the expiration date will be at least a year if not longer from the date they were produced, so they will still be in stores through the end of the year and possibly into 2010. If you have a copy of the rankings for slowest moving candy, gum and mints nationwide in convenience stores you will see Reese’s PBC with Caramel and Kissables near the top. FYI the top spot goes to Skittles Smoothies.

sdswcu - okay ... do you have something to cite on this? Is this info from corporate or from a wholesaler? I don’t know who you are. You’ve never filled out your profile.

I’m not saying that Hershey’s consumer email system is correct (I think I’ve proved that they don’t give a whit about keeping their website accurate).

Though I never saw them, turns out Valentine’s Kissables were produced.

Sorry about that, I have entered info into my profile now.
You never know what bag types and holiday packs will be affected but the single serve bags found mostly in C-stores are done. The latest expiration date I’ve seen is November 2009, but that in no way reflects when the last production run will expire.

So you work for Hershey? Sounds like a fun job

are the York Mint Tins going to continue to be made/sold?
Most of the stores around here don’t sell them anymore so I assumed they were discontinued but they’re still listed on the Hershey website

I haven’t heard anything about the York Tins. They were once part of the Big 33, which lists our best 33 selling items in c-stores but they are now off that list. When Hershey tweeked the list they removed peg items and the York tins to add Breathe Savers and a few different candy bars. I know the York Tins aren’t big sellers in my area but nationally they may be popular. Twizzlers are HUGE in the northern regions but you can’t give them away in the southeast. The York Tins aren’t on the slow moving list either.  Unfortunately we aren’t given all the rankings of Hershey products but occasionally we get the individual rankings by distributors in our area. We were told about the Kissables and Reese’s PBC with Caramel because they wanted us to re-tag the spots in the stores with other Hershey products so we keep the same # of items in the store.

I saw the Thingamajig at Walgreens, is that going to become a regular item?

Are limited editions kind of like tests and if they do well enough they become permanent?

You’ll have to talk with someone in the marketing department for an answer to that question.