Rant: The Actual 'Food of the Gods'
(Reese Fast Break)

In The Beginning... Obsolescence

In the beginning... there was the Hershey Sidekick, first released in Canada, in 2001. I remember it very well, I saw the bar as a kid and gravitated toward right away. And generally, it was always my chocolate bar of choice from that point on; all other chocolate bars became obsolete. Later that year Hershey would release it in the US as the Reese's Fast Break. Why they didn't: 1) release it first in the US (especially considering it was only produced there), 2) keep the branding consistent... is anyone's guess.

Then in the sad year of 2006, Hershey inexplicably pulled the plug on the chocolate bar in 2006, I was quite dismayed and sad 'my' favourite chocolate bar was gone forever... except it wasn't in the US but I didn't know that until years later. It's been said the bar did poorly without the bright flashy 'Reese' colours, and to be fair it's possible nobody knew it had Reese's peanut butter in there (obviously I knew, the taste is unmistakeable).

The infamous Hershey's Sidekick commercial that I do remember seeing on TV.

The Actual 'Food of the Gods' is the Fast Break

For those of you who remember the many 'Big Brother' iterations of the 9595 Ardent Tools index (unless I'm the only one), Louis had the Jiffy corn muffin mix as the "Food of the Gods". Not so, I think the actual 'Food of the Gods' is really the Reese Fast Break. And in my opinion it's the ultimate chocolate bar (nougat-based or otherwise) 99x better than a Snickers or... really anything. The snap and flavour of the top fudge, combined with the proprietary (and sadly hydrogenated) Reese peanut butter with the layer of nougat creates a flavour profile that's yet to be beat.

While I cannot find the video anymore, I remember uxwbill tried the stand alone Reese's Peanut Butter; and of course Hershey couldn't have been bothered to put the proprietary peanut butter blend they use in the Reese peanut butter cups *sigh*. So the fact they reused it in the Fast Break is what really gives it that important taste. What I mean to say is... that peanut butter blend makes all the difference. Without it the Fast Break would be quite mediocre.

Hershey Marketing Drank Too Much

Now we come to the main issue of our story. Because Hershey waffled around not keeping the product named one thing (nor advertised that it used Reese's peanut butter in Canada -- well... that is until much later under the moniker "15% more Reese peanut butter"...) it's no doubt confusing to everyone with a passion for the product.

They finally advertise it's a Reese product.

It was in 2018 shortly before COVID that I learned about the Fast Break in the US and started to import them (I was quite livid at the time that Hershey continued to produce them in the US without telling us...). Eventually though, importing the bars became more difficult post-COVID as fewer carriers handled this service... not to mention too expensive to be worth it.

Well... here we go again. In September of 2024 Hershey's released the Fast Break/Sidekick in Canada again... but this time under... wait for it... "Reese's + Nougat Bar".

Excuse me...?

Why does Hershey marketing insist on renaming this bar to so many weird names. "Reese's + Nougat Bar" does not roll off the tongue. Like what is someone supposed to tell another person...?

George: "oh hey Bob, check out this amazing chocolate bar, it's called the Reese's + Nougat Bar."
Bob: "oh that's awesome Bob. I think I'll go purchase a Reese's + Nougat Bar of my own."

Hershey Can't Resist Shrinkflation

The original sized bars were 56g, Hershey now produces them as 51g, with noticeable 'air gaps' on either side of the peanut butter that wasn't there before back in 2001 when I first ate them. I think the quality of the ingredients has taken a hit as they seem to taste cheaper to my palate? After doing some research this has been confirmed, the chocolate recipe is heavily cheapened out which explains so much. Supposedly Hershey plans on fixing this in 2027 reverting to the old milk chocolate recipe, we'll see. They still have that flavour profile I love, but I wish Hershey just left the process and quality alone. Oh well. I'll take a cheaper Fast Break than no Fast Break.

No wonder Brad Reese is speaking up against Hershey.

Anyway... it's my favourite chocolate bar and the only one worth buying. In 2001 it rendered all competing chocolate bars obsolete.