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Hershey's Kisses

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Hershey's Kisses
Original milk chocolate Hershey's Kisses beside Cherry Cordial Creme Filled Kisses
Product typeChocolate Candy
OwnerThe Hershey Company
CountryUnited States
Introduced1907
Related brandsHershey bar
Hershey's Kissables
MarketsWorldwide
Ambassador(s)Milton Hershey
Websitehersheys.com

Hershey's Kisses is a brand of chocolate manufactured by The Hershey Company. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive shape, commonly described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses chocolates are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil with a narrow strip of paper protruding from the top.

History

Old Hershey Kisses ad

The Hershey Kisses were first introduced in 1907. At first, the Hershey Kisses were wrapped by hands and fingers but in 1921, a machine was made so the Kisses would be wrapped automatically. Brothers Walter, Howard and Raymond Phillippy made improvements, such as devices to reject misshapen Kisses and position unwrapped candies upright. This is also when the plume was added.

In 1924, Milton S. Hershey received a registered trademark for the plume. During 1942, production of Hershey Kisses was briefly interrupted due to the rationing of aluminum foil. Instead, the machines were used to create chocolate paste for the soldiers in World War II. In 1976, the Kiss received a registered trademark for the foil wrapper.

Kisses are one of the most popular brands of candies in the US. In 1989, the chocolate drops were the 5th most popular chocolate brand in the United States, spawning sales that topped $400 million. More than 60 million Hershey's Kisses chocolates are produced each day at the company's two factories. Today's Kisses brand chocolates use Hershey's original milk chocolate formula.

In 2005 Hershey's Kissables were introduced as a smaller sized, candy coated version of Kisses chocolates. They were discontinued in 2009.

Kisses brand varieties

Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolates filled with caramel.

Though originally made of solely milk chocolate, many variations of the Kisses brand of chocolates and candies have since been introduced. Hershey introduces and discontinues new flavors constantly. As of January 2013, some of the flavors available throughout the year include:[1]

United States and Canada

International

  • Hazelnut (may only be found in Asian markets)
  • Green Tea (may only be found in Asian markets)
  • Creamy Milk Chocolate (found in Europe)
  • Creamy Milk Chocolate with Almonds (found in Europe)
  • Milk Chocolate (found everywhere, but not in Ireland)
  • Cookies and Creme (white chocolate with Oreo-like cookie bits)

Limited time only

  • Chocolate Mint
  • Double Fudge (fudge flavored chocolate, called "ice cream" flavored kisses - not the same as Double Chocolate Fudge)
  • Double Chocolate Fudge (dark on bottom, milk chocolate on top - may be the same as "Double Chocolate")
  • Double Chocolate (dark and milk chocolate - called kisses "layers" - may be the same as "Double Chocolate Fudge")
  • Milk Chocolate and Vanilla (white on top, milk on bottom - called kisses "layers")
  • Dulce de Leche (white chocolate caramel filled)
  • Dark Chocolate Cherry Cordial Crème Filled
  • Strawberry Crème (white chocolate strawberry flavored - no filling; originally called "ice cream" flavored kisses)
  • Orange Crème (white chocolate orange flavored - no filling)
  • Coconut Crème (milk chocolate with coconut crème filling)
  • Dark Chocolate with Almonds
  • Extra Creamy with Toffee & Almond
  • Chocolate Truffle (chocolate "truffle" filling wrapped in dark chocolate)
  • Candy Cane (peppermint flavored white chocolate with crunchy nonpareils)
  • Special Dark Macadamia Nut [Mauna Loa]
  • Milk Chocolate Macadamia Nut
  • Special Dark Espresso-flavored
  • Special Dark Coffee-flavored
  • Caramel Crème (white chocolate caramel flavored)
  • Crunchy Caramel Crème (white chocolate caramel flavored with crunchy candy bits)
  • Dark Chocolate Raspberry-flavored
  • Dark Chocolate Strawberry-flavored
  • Dark Chocolate Orange-flavored
  • Extra Creamy
  • Neapolitan (white, pink, chocolate)
  • Confetti (white chocolate with small candy sprinkles)
  • Chocolate Malt Crunch (malt flavored milk chocolate with crunchy candy bits)
  • Vanilla Crème (milk chocolate with a white vanilla flavored crème filling)
  • Candy Corn (white chocolate)
  • New York Cheesecake (extra creamy milk chocolate with cheesecake flavored crème filling)
  • Toffee Flavored Crunch (extra creamy toffee flavored milk chocolate with crunchy nonpareils)
  • Hot Cocoa Crème (milk chocolate with hot cocoa crème filling)
  • Mint Truffle (dark chocolate filled with a green "peppermint pattie" flavored mint crème)
  • Chocolate Marshmallow (milk chocolate made to taste like marshmallow)
  • Trio (milk and dark chocolates drizzled with white crème)
  • Champagne Truffle (champagne flavored chocolate "truffle" filling wrapped in dark chocolate - sold in a plastic champagne bottle)
  • Crème de Menthe (filled and wrapped in dark chocolate – may be the same as previous Mint Truffle version)
  • Lemon Crème (white chocolate lemon flavored – no filling)
  • Vanilla Yogurt Crème (milk chocolate vanilla yogurt crème filling)
  • Cookies n' Crème (white chocolate with crunchy nonpareils) – not the same bits as in Europe
  • Milk Chocolate filled with Marshmallow Crème
  • Pumpkin Spice (chocolate-like candy filled will pumpkin pie flavored filling)
  • Caramel Apple (milk chocolate filled with apple flavored caramel)
  • Milk Chocolate filled with Strawberry Crème
  • Chocolate Meltaway (Milk Chocolate with velvety smooth chocolate center)
  • Irish Crème (Milk Chocolate filled with Irish crème)
  • Milk Chocolate filled with Buttercrème
  • Carrot Cake
  • Hugs with Almonds
  • White Cookie Cupcake
  • Coconut Almond (coconut flavored creme with almonds) - part of the Flavor of Hawaii
  • Pineapple Coconut (pineapple coconut flavored creme) - part of the Flavor of Hawaii
  • Hot Cocoa (milk chocolate with marshmallow flavored creme) (Note: different from previous Hot Cocoa Creme version)
  • Lava Cake (dark chocolate with a gooey chocolate center)

Wrapper varieties

Hershey's Kisses chocolates were originally wrapped in silver-colored foil, and were only available in this single color for decades. 1962 marked the first year that Kisses chocolates were available in different colored foil wrappers: red, green, and silver-wrapped candies were manufactured to coincide with the Christmas season. This idea was the suggestion of John Figi, owner of Figi’s “Gifts in Good Taste” - a mail order food gifts company based in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The green and red colored wrapped chocolates were featured for the first time in the Figi’s Christmas catalogue. In 1968, pastel blue, pink, and green wrappers were introduced for Easter, and in 1986, Valentine's Day-themed wrappers of red and silver were introduced. Xs and Os have also appeared on pink and red wrappers as well as little red hearts on silver wrappers for Valentine’s Day. "Fall Harvest" colors were introduced in 1991. Independence Day has silver with red stripes and blue-starred wrappers. Pink wrappers with "ribbons" on them to support breast cancer research have also appeared. Camouflage wrappers are also available, primarily on military bases. Kisses Dark Chocolates come in a deep purple wrapper. The Halloween themed Kisses Candy Corn candies come in a wrapper whose colors imitate the color of a candy corn with yellow, white and orange stripes swirling around the candy. In 2016 four limited Holiday wrapper varieties were released: Santa hats, Kissmas sweaters that resemble knit Christmas sweaters, Kissmas Trees with plumes that read Fa La La, and Kissmas Presents with plumes that read from me to you. The Christmas themed Kisses Candy Cane candies also come in a wrapper whose colors imitate the color pattern (red stripes and white chocolate). The original silver (for regular) and gold (for Almonds) wrappers are available year-round.

Hershey is introducing new pastel-colored wrappers with white polka dots for the upcoming Easter season. This created controversy within the organization because many workers and environmentalists have requested a more environmentally-friendly packaging, which would have eliminated the aluminum wrapping and replaced it with biodegradable materials. This was supposed to be rolled out on April 1, 2009.[citation needed]

Paper plume

In addition to the standard "Kisses®" paper plume and the special variety plumes (such as "cheesecake"), special messages have been available for various occasions, including:

Seasonal

  • Friends all the time
  • Happy Halloween
  • Happy Holidays
  • Hugs forever
  • Love you to the moon and back
  • Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
  • Hippity Hoppity

Packaging varieties

  • Chinese New Year Gift Box - contains gold and red wrapped kisses

Advertising

"Christmas Bells" is a commercial in which Hershey's Kisses, fashioned as a handbell choir, perform the Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". It premiered in 1989 and has run each holiday season since in the United States; it is the longest-running television commercial for the Hershey brand.[2]

Additives

Hershey's Kisses Hugs and Hershey's Kisses Cookies 'N' Creme are made with the ingredient PGPR (Polyglycerol polyricinoleate, E476),[3] which is used as a cheaper replacement for cocoa butter.[4]

Broken tip controversy

On December 9, 2018, a member of The Wedding Cookie Table Community on Facebook posted a picture of a tip-less Kiss, wondering "Do this year’s Kisses look like this for you? Or are the tops broken off?"[5] Other members of the group began to check their Kisses and as a result, dozens of others posted in the group that many, but not all, of them were found to be missing their tips.[6] Twitter users soon picked up on the controversy and began to post pictures of Kisses that were also tip-less.

Hershey representatives have been responding to the group's messages. At first, customer service told consumers that it was deliberate so the pieces did not fall off after production, but now, they say the company is looking into the cause.[7] In a statement, Jeff Beckman, a Hershey spokesman, said, "We love our Kisses as much as our consumers. We make more than 70 million Kisses a day here in Hershey, PA, and we want each of them looking as great as they taste. The iconic, conical shape is one of the reasons families have loved Kisses for generations. We shape the tip on our classic, solid Milk and Dark Chocolate Kisses to create that iconic appearance. And while there has always been some variability in that process, we are working to improve the appearance because it’s as important to us as it is to our fans."[8]

References

  1. ^ "HERSHEY'S - Error". hersheys.com.
  2. ^ "Ringing in the Holidays: Hershey's Kisses Chocolates". HersheyArchives.com. January 18, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "Kisses with almonds (click on icons at URL for other Kisses varieties)". thehersheycompany.com.
  4. ^ "Manufacturers overlook cocoa butter savings" (PDF).
  5. ^ https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheWeddingCookieTableCommunity/
  6. ^ https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/hersheys-kisses-are-suffering-from-widespread-broken-tips-and-people-are-furious/ar-BBRbV3z
  7. ^ https://cbsn.ws/2T3QLie
  8. ^ https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/12/hershey-co-responds-to-complaints-about-kisses-missing-tips.html
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