You might not have noticed, but in recent years, beloved candy bars like Almond Joy, Mr. Goodbar, and Rolo quietly removed the words ‘milk chocolate’ from their packaging.
These subtle changes were easy to overlook. For instance, Mr. Goodbar went from ‘milk chocolate with peanuts’ to simply ‘chocolate candy with peanuts.’ Almond Joy is now a ‘coconut and almond chocolate candy bar,’ and Rolos are marketed as ‘rich chocolate candy’ instead of ‘milk chocolate.’
This subtle shift became apparent to me after enjoying a chocolate bar that just didn’t taste right. As a climate reporter, I was aware that global warming has led to severe droughts in West Africa, driving cocoa prices sky-high. I also knew that candy companies had already increased prices and reduced portion sizes.
But the question lingered: were they also altering the very ingredients of the candy itself?
Indeed, the answer is yes. Industry experts confirm that soaring cocoa prices have sparked a wave of ‘reformulations’ – a fancy term for recipe changes. Especially as Halloween approaches and demand for candy surges, some manufacturers are swapping costly cocoa butter for other fats. This crucial ingredient switch means their products no longer qualify as ‘milk chocolate’ under U.S. regulations, hence the label change.
This explains why your ‘milk chocolate’ might now be labeled simply as ‘chocolate candy,’ a term regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. And these are just the most obvious adjustments. With advanced confectionery science, companies are developing new recipes that often avoid mandatory label changes, remaining undetectable to all but the most discerning palates of ‘super-taster’ candy scientists.
From a certain perspective, this is an industry success story. As climate change makes traditional ingredients scarcer, the food sector is pouring millions into R&D to adapt to agricultural shifts. Without us even realizing it, the subtle impacts of a changing world are already finding their way into our favorite candies.
One example: Older packaging for certain candies clearly stated ‘Milk chocolate with peanuts.’ Today, that same candy might be described simply as ‘chocolate candy with peanuts.’
Over recent years, West Africa, the world’s primary cocoa-growing region, has been hit by prolonged droughts, extreme heat, and unpredictable rainfall, significantly reducing cocoa yields. A fast-spreading mealybug infection has worsened the situation. Additionally, financial speculation, potential tariffs, labor disputes, and other geopolitical issues have further exacerbated these challenges.
A study published last February by the nonprofit Climate Central revealed that climate change has added six extra weeks of extreme heat annually to most West African cocoa-growing regions over the past decade, severely hindering crop productivity.
This perfect storm of factors has caused cocoa prices to skyrocket. Last year, prices peaked at over $10,000 per ton – roughly quadruple the cost from 2022, as reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Judy Ganes, a food industry consultant, explains the dilemma: ‘When climate change combines with existing structural problems and diseases, prices surge. Manufacturers are reluctant to fully pass these increases onto consumers, fearing it will harm sales. So, they either risk losing customers or choose to reformulate their products.’
Back then, candy labels might simply say ‘Milk chocolate.’ But now, the wording has subtly changed to ‘chocolate candy.’
While food industry executives readily admit to reducing cocoa content to cut costs, they become much more guarded when asked about specific recipe alterations in their own products.
During a February earnings call, Hershey’s CFO, Steve Voskuil, acknowledged, ‘it’s a place we look at, we test, and in some parts of our portfolio, over time we’ve made some changes,’ while insisting there has been ‘no consumer impact whatsoever.’
That same month, Nestlé informed investors they had saved over $500 million through recipe reformulations, coinciding with a presentation highlighting high cocoa and coffee prices. When pressed for details, a Nestlé spokesperson claimed candy contributed only a small fraction of these savings, with most coming from ‘recipe complexity’ and ‘harmonizing recipes’ across various brands.
So, how can consumers really know when their beloved candy has changed? My investigation involved comparing current labels of Mr. Goodbar, Rolo, and Almond Joy against historical ingredient lists from sources like the Open Food Facts database, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the annual compilations of Richard Hartel, a food science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This process, I must admit, also required numerous trips to the grocery store, where I spent an embarrassingly long time scrutinizing the tiny print on Halloween candy variety packs.
My findings indicate that Rolo and Mr. Goodbar have undergone changes since 2023, while Almond Joy appears to have been altered between 2020 and 2022. The Hershey Company, producers of all three, chose not to comment. Interestingly, Mr. Goodbar temporarily lost its ‘milk chocolate’ status around 2008 before seemingly reverting.
However, label comparisons can only reveal so much to eager candy enthusiasts. Food scientists are expertly trained to subtly adjust recipes in ways that are nearly impossible for the average consumer to detect.
Michelle Frame, the visionary founder of Victus Ars, a candy development firm, holds a place in the Candy Hall of Fame for her groundbreaking work creating flavored Peeps.
Recently, even Ms. Frame, with her expert palate, has noticed changes beyond her professional work. She observed that the milk chocolate coating on a Snickers bar seemed thinner, and she stopped buying a particular brand of chocolate chip cookies after realizing the large chocolate chips were swapped for an inferior substitute. (A Mars spokesperson stated that Snickers coatings haven’t changed since a minor reduction in 2019.)
According to Ms. Frame, a common cost-saving tactic involves replacing traditional chocolate coating with ‘compound coating,’ which substitutes vegetable fats for cocoa butter. Candies like Butterfinger and Baby Ruth have long used compound coatings, but more recent changes have seen products like Almond Joy adopt them too.
Reformulating solid chocolate candies is more challenging. Manufacturers are actively experimenting with convincing cocoa butter substitutes – a task Dr. Hartel describes as ‘a food scientist’s delight’ due to the complexity of perfectly mimicking cocoa butter’s unique texture and melt-in-your-mouth feel. This innovation is also a massive commercial opportunity.
He notes that one tell-tale sign of such a substitution is the use of the word ‘chocolatey’ on packaging.
A warehouse brimming with cocoa beans in eastern Ghana illustrates the origins of our chocolate.
Cargill, a major ingredient supplier, has seen a surge in demand for chocolate alternatives, according to John Satumba, their director of global edible oil solutions R&D. Cargill has poured $35 million into a Netherlands facility to produce cocoa-reduced coatings and fillings, and is constructing a new plant in Ohio dedicated to chocolate substitutes.
Worldwide, Cargill’s investment in ‘cocoa butter equivalent capabilities’ totals $70 million.
Another strategy involves increasing the use of cheaper ingredients like sugar or other chunky add-ins. Andrew Moriarty, a senior cocoa analyst at Expana, notes this has reversed a decade-long trend of reducing added sugars in response to consumer demand. Now, sugar content is discreetly rising again as it replaces cocoa.
Other tactics include thinning milk chocolate coatings and adding a layer of chocolate compound underneath. Cookie manufacturers might use smaller chocolate chips, fewer of them, or a mix of ‘real’ and compound chocolate chips, Ms. Frame explains.
While consumers seldom catch these subtle tricks, those within the industry are keenly aware.
Eric Schmoyer, technical innovations director at IRCA Group, a chocolate manufacturer, remarks, ‘We all know each other and we run around behind the scenes and we’re like, can you believe this stuff?’
Though cocoa prices have slightly decreased from their peak last winter, analysts anticipate a prolonged supply shortage due to global warming. Chocolate demand continues to grow, yet increasing production is a slow process. Climate change will likely further strain crops with hotter temperatures and unpredictable rainfall, and new planting efforts are restricted by anti-deforestation regulations, Mr. Moriarty points out.
In the long term, Dr. Hartel foresees a further divergence in the chocolate market. Premium chocolates will likely retain their traditional ingredients, but at ever-increasing prices. Meanwhile, companies producing more affordable chocolates will continue to find creative ways to keep them accessible, whether through ingredient reformulations, reduced packaging, or launching new products with less cocoa.
This Halloween season offers a clear example of this trend: A Hershey’s assortment currently features light-green Kit Kats and Cookies ‘n’ Creme Fangs, neither of which contains any actual chocolate.
So, what about that disappointing chocolate bar that started my investigation? Despite comparing product labels and finding no changes over five years, candy scientists suggest many other factors could have been tweaked: the company might have sourced beans from a different region, used lower-quality beans, or even switched manufacturers.
For years, alarming headlines have warned how global warming could reshape our food system, potentially making key crops less nutritious and leading to widespread food shortages. Yet, more subtle changes are already on our plates, expertly masked because it has become both possible and profitable to do so.
The future of our sweets might just taste like my underwhelming chocolate bar: subtly different, perhaps a little worse, whether due to varied beans, less cocoa butter, or increased sugar.
Then again, maybe it was just stale. Who knows?