Reese's Pieces are a

peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

manufactured by

The Hershey Company The Hershey Company, commonly known as Hershey's, is an American multinational company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milksh ...

; they are

oblate spheroid A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has ci ...

in shape and covered in candy shells that are colored yellow, orange, or brown. They can be purchased in plastic packets, cardboard boxes, or cup-shaped travel containers. The Reese company was founded by

H.B. Reese Harry Burnett Reese Sr (May 24, 1879 – May 16, 1956) was an American inventor and businessman known for creating the number one-selling candy brand in the United States Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and founding the H. B. Reese Candy Company ...

. The H.B. Reese Candy Company was merged with

in 1963.

Overview

The candy was introduced to the US market first in September 1978. Shortly after, Reese's Pieces were introduced to the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

market in 1980. The then relatively new product became very popular with the 1982 release of ''

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, d ...

'', in which the candy is featured. Reese's Pieces were introduced in the UK in 1996, but are produced in the US. Reese's Pieces are a product extension of the

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an American candy consisting of a chocolate cup filled with peanut butter, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were created on November 15, 1928, by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for M ...

line; they were designed to capitalize on the success of the chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, though unlike the cups, they have no chocolate.

Variations

Reese's Pieces has been included in many Reese's and Hershey's products since its introduction. Below is a list of available products that contain Reese's Pieces, from the candy pieces being stuffed inside of existing chocolate bar variations to bags of baking chip mixes.

Production

In the 1970s, the candies were produced by

using panning machines that had been used to make Hershey-ets, a chocolate-filled candy that had been discontinued. The candy was first called "PBs" and was later rechristened as Reese's Pieces. Designers wanted a peanut-flavored candy but had problems with the filling. Original plans called for filling the candy shells with peanut butter, but the oil leaked out into the shell, leaving it soft, rather than crunchy. The developer of the project turned the problem over to a team of outside scientists, who created a peanut-flavored

penuche Penuche (, from it, panucci) is a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, and milk, using no flavorings except for vanilla. Penuche often has a tannish color, and is lighter than regular fudge. It is formed by the caramelization of brow ...

filling. More experimentation was needed to determine the correct thickness of the shell. Finally, the colors of the candy coating were designed to coordinate with the color of the Reese's package. The color distribution goal is 50% orange, 25% brown, and 25% yellow.

''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''

In 1982, the

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

candy bar company rejected a

product placement Product placement, also known as embedded marketing, is a marketing technique where references to specific brands or products are incorporated into another work, such as a film or television program, with specific promotional intent. Much of th ...

offer for the inclusion of its key product

M&M's M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...

in the

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

film, ''

''. Hershey accepted an offer for use of Reese's Pieces in the movie, and with the film's blockbuster success its product sales dramatically increased, perhaps as much as 300%.

Product line expansion

In 2010, The Hershey Company expanded the ''Pieces'' line to include York Peppermint Pattie Pieces,

Hershey's Special Dark Hershey's Special Dark is a chocolate bar manufactured by The Hershey Company. History In 1894, before the introduction of the milk chocolate Hershey bar in 1900, the Hershey Chocolate Company manufactured and marketed "vanilla sweet chocolate" ...

Pieces, and Almond Joy Pieces. Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds Pieces became the fourth expansion of this line in 2012.

References

External links

Official product page
{{Portal bar, Food Products introduced in 1978 Candy Peanut butter confectionery The Hershey Company brands Kosher food E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1980s in food Brand name confectionery