HERSHEY, Pa. -- After nearly a century of serving rich, hardcore milk chocolate to the world, Hershey Chocolate U.S.A. Tuesday broke tradition and unveiled a new mixture of the confection to appeal to palates seeking something smooth and creamy.
The new Symphony bar marks Hershey's first departure from its original milk-chocolate formula created in 1894 by company founder Milton S. Hershey.
Rob Shelton, Hershey's director of marketing for its moulded-bar division, said the Symphony bar will be available nationwide in two flavors -- milk chocolate and milk chocolate with almonds and toffee chips.
'If they're not in the store currently, they will be within the next couple of weeks,' Shelton said after official chocolate-breaking ceremonies Tuesday.
Shelton said the new mixture was cooked up after extensive research and testing that began in 1984 and ended with an 18-month test marketing in the Los Angeles and San Franciso areas.
Not long after the initial tests, Shelton said, the company found that chocolate lovers throughout the nation were craving something other than the usual rich milk chocolate -- something undeniably 'smoother and creamier.'
To satisfy that craving, Hershey increased the level of milk in their product and came up with the Symphony bars.
How different in formula the new milk chocolate is from the old, Shelton would not say.
'I'd rather not divulge that,' he said. 'Mr. Hershey kept it (the formula) secret since 1894, and I wouldn't want to be the first to let the cat out.'
