Ohio woman says Hershey’s and Reese’s are removing real cocoa from their chocolate. Then she found something at Aldi: ‘cheaper’

It’s hard to imagine life without chocolate, but the candy industry has been struggling to maintain standards and prices in the wake of a global cocoa shortage.

The reasons for this shortage are complex, though largely center on changing conditions in West African countries Ghana and the Ivory Coast (as per ABC News) which produce around 60-70% of the world’s cocoa. A combination of adverse weather linked to climate change, a disease called cocoa swollen shoot virus, fungal issues on trees, soil degradation, and fertilizer shortages (among many other factors) has seen global cocoa production shrink.

What this means for you is worse candy, as major manufacturers reformulate products by reducing cocoa content, shrinking package sizes, or replacing ingredients. As per Cacao Latitudes, palm oil, palm kernel oil, shea oil/butter, and other vegetable fats are now regularly used as cheaper cocoa butter equivalents.

But there is a way for you to get the chocolate you’re used to, and at a relatively low price! On TikTok @antalyaberlin gave her take on the situation and offered a potential solution:

“So you know how they’re taking chocolate out of chocolate? Like Hershey’s and Reese’s and, like all the big brands are, like removing the cocoa from the chocolate and they’re replacing it with like a chocolate substitute, which is, like, horrifying and disgusting because, y’know, the chocolate isn’t like, processed enough.”

“Aldi’s food goes hard”

As it turns out, when it comes to chocolate, Europe is here to save the day. The European Union has strict rules on what is defined as “chocolate”, meaning many American products no longer qualify for that label. Even better, you don’t have to hop on a transatlantic flight to get it. As @antalyaberlin says:

“Aldi’s food goes hard. Okay (she holds up a packet of Benton’s Choco Wafers) these, you can find them at Aldi. They are amazing. This is a Kit Kat, basically but, just, it’s so much better. A lot of the sweets that they carry at Aldis are like imported from Europe and like, Europe is known for having very good chocolate. So like, these, they’re so good. They’re so much better than the Kit Kat. So much better.”

Foodies ably support this take. Over at Tasting Table, they confirm that “Chocolate is one thing Aldi excels at”, identifying their “Choceur dark chocolate caramel sea salt waves” as a particular highlight: “I was truly and deeply humbled by this treat, because as soon as I took a bite, I basically thought, “Wow, why are these the greatest things on Earth?”

Hershey’s have previously admitted (via CBS News) that they’ve switched to “less cocoa-intensive” products, but say the cocoa market is recovering and that by 2027 their original recipes will return. They said: “Hershey is committed to making products consumers love and that means continually reviewing our recipes to meet evolving tastes and preferences.”

So, if you’re craving real chocolate, and you have a local Aldi, you know what you have to do.