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H.B. Reese, a former dairy farmer, went on to be one of the greatest candy entrepreneurs of all time—from working directly for Milton Hershey to inventing his famous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to support his 16 children.
H. B. Reese was born in 1879 on Frosty Hill Farm in York County, Pennsylvania, to Annie Belinda Manifold and Aquilla Asbury Reese Jr.
He showed talent in his younger years with diverse interests, such as being a talented French horn player performing in 1898.
In 1900, he married Blanche Edna, eventually having 16 children together!
Reese started his career by managing fishing operations at his father-in-law’s cannery in Ditchley, Virginia in 1903, overseeing a dairy farm in Woodbine, Pennsylvania in 1912 and raising frogs to sell to Baltimore restaurants for extra cash.
In 1916, H.B. Reese saw an advertisement from Milton Hershey, who was looking for dairy farm managers.
He was hired to manage Farm 28-A in 1917 and was promoted soon after to oversee the experimental Round Barn dairy farm in 1918.
His time working for Hershey came to an end in 1919 when the Round Barn operation was closed.
A setback that would give rise to his own candy startup.
H.B. Reese founded the R&R Candy Company in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, in 1919 (later reorganized to the Superior Chocolate and Confectionery Company in 1920).
Before launching his venture, Reese personally sought Milton Hershey’s blessing to start his own candy company and promised to use Hershey’s milk chocolate in his creations.
The company produced chocolate-covered raisins and almonds.
The Superior Chocolate and Confectionery Company raised the equivalent of $290,000 through stock sales in order to expand operations.
Having ten kids at the time, the income from this company was not enough, so Reese had to take side jobs as a butcher and another canning vegetables.
H.B. Reese’s first venture failed to provide for his family, so he moved to Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1921 when his father-in-law bought them a home at 18 E. Areba Avenue.
Reese began working as a shipping department foreman at The Hershey Company.
While working at Hershey, Reese started inventing candy bars in his basement—the Lizzie Bar and Johnny Bar—named after his children.
His candy bars contained fresh coconut, caramel, molasses, cocoa butter, and honey, and the Johnny Bar contained nuts using Hershey’s chocolate for coating.
Finally, H.B. Reese established the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1923, launching the Lizzie Bar and Johnny Bar.
The company also produced other handmade confections, including buttercreams, marshmallows, and his now-famous peanut butter cups.
His employees hand-coated candies on marble slabs in both milk and dark chocolate.
The company experienced remarkable success—soon after employing 62 workers plus his six sons, making enough money that he was able to go full time into his venture.
H.B. Reese later heard about supply chain issues with chocolate-covered peanut butter candy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
So he decided to invent his own version called Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 1928.
Reese produced and sold the individually wrapped penny cups with the slogan “Made in Chocolate Town, So They Must Be Good.”
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were so popular that they helped him pay off his mortgages during the Great Depression.
His new product would become the main focus of Reese’s business operations.
During World War II in the 1940s, H.B. Reese stopped all production except for Peanut Butter Cups, as wartime economic pressures and sugar rations forced him to focus on one thing.
During this period, Reese sold his candy at one cents per cup.
He also installed packaging machines and automated plant operations.
Sales of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups doubled every four years afterward.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups experienced remarkable growth through distribution via wholesalers, vending machines, and syndicated stores.
Their distinctive orange and yellow packaging helped the product gain widespread adoption.
To keep up with demand, the company started construction on a second manufacturing facility on Reese Avenue in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
By 1957, the new plant was completed, adding 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
H.B. Reese died from a heart attack in West Palm Beach, Florida, on May 16, 1956.
His death came just six years before his company merged with Hershey Foods Corporation.
The H.B. Reese Candy Company merged with Hershey in 1963 through a tax-free stock-for-stock merger and gave the Reese’s sons $23.5 million in stock.
By 1969, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups became Hershey’s top-selling product where they remain today as the number one selling candy in the USA.
In 2009, H.B. Reese received posthumous recognition and was inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame.
The savvy business decision made by Reese’s six sons to exchange their company shares for Hershey’s stock in 1963 proved to be incredibly lucrative.
Today, their original 666,316 shares have grown to 16 million Hershey shares valued at over $4.4 billion by 2024!
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