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Good news for vegans with a sweet tooth.
The Hershey Company
HSY,
is making plant-based versions of two of its most popular treats to meet the changing needs of some snackers: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hershey’s chocolate bars. The new Hershey’s Plant Based Extra Creamy with Almonds and Sea Salt oat chocolate confections, and Reese’s Plant Based Peanut Butter Cups, also made with oat chocolate, are coming to store shelves nationwide this spring, the company announced on Tuesday. Prices were not immediately available.
“We are excited to introduce these delicious, plant-based options,” Teal Liu, Hershey’s brand manager, said in a statement. “Our purpose is to create more moments of goodness for consumers. Those moments are now more accessible for chocolate lovers looking for plant-based alternatives.”
There’s been a growing appetite for dairy alternatives to meet the varying needs of consumers, whether that’s vegan shoppers who don’t consume animal products, or folks who are lactose-intolerant and looking to minimize their dairy intake, as well as people who are just looking for more plant-based products to live a healthier lifestyle, and so on. The global dairy alternatives market was valued at $22.25 billion in 2021, according to Fortune Business Insights, and it’s projected to grow from $25 billion last year to $61.43 billion by 2029.
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Shoppers can expect to see the plant-based Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in stores in March, and the Hershey’s plant-based chocolate bars in April, the company said. The brand didn’t give specific dates, but it looks like the plant-based peanut butter cups, at least, should be available in time for Easter on April 9.
For those looking to stuff their Easter baskets (or even just stock their snack cabinets) with other plant-based treats, PETA also dishes a list of “bunny approved” vegan Easter candy, such as Moo Free Chocolates’ Easter Bunnycomb Egg (a plant-based take on chocolate Easter eggs) and YumEarth Naturals’ jelly beans.
This news comes a week after some people were calling to boycott Hershey after it put a trans woman on a candy bar in Canada, in honor of International Women’s Day. The campaign renewed heated discussion over gender identity and trans rights online.
