Candy Companies Are Quietly Cutting Down on Cocoa to Save Money

Climate|Why Did My Favorite Candy Bar Drop ‘Milk Chocolate’ From the Label?

Almost no one noticed when, sometime over the last few years, the packaging on Almond Joy, Mr. Goodbar and Rolo was updated to remove the words “milk chocolate.”

The edits were easy to miss: The description on the front of the Mr. Goodbar wrapper changed from “milk chocolate with peanuts” to “chocolate candy with peanuts.” Almond Joy is now marketed as a “coconut and almond chocolate candy bar.” Rolos are now wrapped in “rich chocolate candy” instead of “milk chocolate.”

I realized this earlier this year after eating a disappointing chocolate bar. It wasn’t spoiled, it just didn’t taste like I remembered. As a reporter who covers the climate, I’d read about global warming contributing to drought in West Africa and sending cocoa prices through the roof, and I knew candy companies had raised prices and shrunk portions.

But could it be that they were also tinkering with the makeup of the candy itself?

Yes, it turns out. Experts say high cocoa prices have triggered a wave of “reformulations,” the industry term for recipe changes. As the Halloween season boosts demand, some candy companies are replacing expensive cocoa butter with other fats, a swap that means their products no longer meet the U.S. regulatory definition of milk chocolate and can no longer be called that on packaging.

That’s why milk chocolate (a Food and Drug Administration-regulated term) has become chocolate candy. And these are just the most extreme examples. Armed with the latest confectionary techniques, candy scientists work hard to find reformulations that slip below the threshold for a mandatory label change. These might go undetected outside the industry and the tight-knit world of super-taster candy scientists.