KANSAS CITY — Candy innovation is sweetening the spate of new products hitting shelves.
The Hershey Co. is offering two new versions of its Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to appeal to those who prefer more peanut butter and those who want to chomp into more chocolate. New Reese’s Chocolate Lovers cups feature a smaller core of peanut butter to make room for more milk chocolate, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Lovers cups feature a thicker peanut butter core with an extra layer of peanut butter on top.
“For years, we’ve heard people debate their favorite part of a Reese’s Cup … Is it the chocolate or is it the peanut butter?” said Natalie Perera, Hershey spokesperson for the Reese’s brand. “So, we decided to settle the score and make both sides happy by giving them what they want — Reese’s Chocolate Lovers and Reese’s Peanut Butter Lovers. As if we’d actually choose.”
New from Mars, Inc., M&M’s Hazelnut Spread Chocolate Candies feature a hazelnut spread center covered in milk chocolate.
“Chocolatey hazelnut spread unlocks a side of indulgence that’s all its own, so we wanted to tap into that mania and bring something to life that our fans would go crazy for,” said Allison Miazga-Bedrick, brand director for M&M’s. “It’s no secret people love hazelnut spread and love M&M’s, so we can’t wait to see the reaction to this breakthrough taste experience.”
Ferrara Candy Co. is bringing out the beans for the upcoming Easter holiday with two new jelly bean offerings: Brach’s Purple Rain Tiny Jelly Bird Eggs — which feature berry, blueberry, blue raspberry and grape flavors — and SweeTarts Sour Jelly Beans.
“As the non-chocolate seasonal confections leader, we are dedicated to providing our fans with the seasonal staples they have come to know and love, like Brach’s Classic Jelly Bird Eggs,” said Peter Goldman, senior director of Brach’s and seasonal confections for Ferrara. “However, we also keep the category fresh by exciting and delighting candy lovers with new on-trend innovations, such as our new Purple Rain Tiny Jelly Bird Eggs. We’re thrilled to bring Easter’s favorite candies into thousands of fans’ homes to help them celebrate the Easter season.”
Additionally, Ferrara is introducing Sour Big Chewy Nerds. Featuring a sour chewy center covered in a sweet, crunchy Nerds candy shell, the new candy contains a variety of sour flavors, including Brainiac Blue Raspberry, Streaming Strawberry Lemonade, Wiki Watermelon and Blood Orange Byte.
“After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from consumers across the nation for our Big Chewy Nerds, it only made sense to take things up a notch with the introduction of Sour Big Chewy Nerds,” said Kelly Peyser, senior brand manager of Nerd. “We are constantly looking for new ways to excite our fans and are thrilled to satisfy not only sweet tooth cravings, but sour ones, too.”
