Hershey Kisses goes bigger with newest chocolate product

The Hershey Company is going big with its iconic chocolate Kisses brand for the holidays.

The chocolate maker announced Tuesday that it’s selling a new product in the U.S. market known as Hershey’s Kisses Deluxe, a chocolate that is double the size of the standard, diminutive Kisses brand. It has a hazelnut center and is flecked with rice crisps.

The new product is expected to be on store shelves across the USA by Nov. 5.

Company officials called the new product the biggest innovation of the iconic Kisses brand since they introduced Hershey Kisses with almonds to the market 25 years ago.

“It took 55 years just to change the color of the foil,” Adam Borden, senior associate manager for Hershey’s Kisses told USA TODAY, of the brand that Hershey’s established in 1907. “Then it took another 38 years to put something inside the milk chocolate. We’re getting better, but it does take us a little while to tinker with something that is iconic as a brand Milton Hershey founded himself.”

The Deluxe product was initially introduced in 2013 in China, where Hershey’s (HSY) was trying to find a chocolate that was less sweet and creamier to appeal to the Chinese consumers' taste. The product was an immediate hit and helped drive $100 million in sales of Hershey Kisses in China last year. The Deluxe brand chocolates are wrapped in gold wrapper instead of silver.

The American version will have rice crisps instead of wheat crisps, allowing it to be marketed as gluten-free.

The Deluxe brand will be sold through Valentine’s Day and will come in packages of three ($1.00), four ($1.29) as well as gift sizes of 15 ($3.99), 35 ($10.99) and 75 ($32.00). The 75-count gift box will only be sold online. The giant candy maker, which also produces brands like Reese's and Jolly Rancher, is marketing the Deluxe Kisses as a holiday gift.

Hershey’s, which had more than $7.4 billion in sales last year, is one of many big confectioners looking to premium chocolate to help drive sales. Premium chocolate accounts for about 8% of all U.S. market chocolate sales, and the segment has seen double-digit growth in recent years, according to Candy Industry, a publication that covers the confectionery industry.

Hershey’s rival Nestle recently announced it would begin selling its Cailler brand in the U.S., Britain and Germany through Amazon and at several airport shops. The upscale brand with a 200-year history had previously been only available in Switzerland.

High-end Swiss chocolate brand to finally hit U.S.

Hershey’s new product is not as pricey as Nestle's push into the premium space.

“Our focus around this was not to come up with something that wasn’t available to a broad range of gift givers,” Borden said. “We really decided we wanted to focus on different price points and different sizes that encompass the different ranges people were looking for. But not make it so luxurious that it was really out of reach for most consumers.”

Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad.