TasteTations (History, Marketing & Commercials)

When you love chocolate and you love hard candy, it can be challenging to find a candy that satisfies both of those urges. Hershey’s TasteTations were a fabulous solution. While they didn’t stick around all that long on the market compared to other Hershey’s candies, they were something memorable and many people wish they would make a return. 

History

You may remember these candies. They were a good competition to Werther’s Originals. Basically, Hershey’s took some of the popular flavors of their chocolate bars, paired them up for the perfect taste, and gave you a candy temptation you couldn’t resist. 

TasteTations were hard candies that had Hershey’s chocolate paired with things like mint, raspberry, caramel, etc. They had several different flavors. It was a like a creamy hard candy, and they were delightful. 

You won’t find these even listed as a product on the website anymore, because they were discontinued. In fact, they were so short-lived that you will be hard pressed to find a lot of information about them too. They appeared to be quite popular while they were out, but then they just seemed to disappear. 

To the best of our knowledge, TasteTations were discontinued sometime in the early 2000s. They were only on the market for a few very short years, according to fans that adored them. They were loved because they were hard candy but had delicious chocolate flavors. And since they were a true hard candy, they didn’t melt. 

This isn’t the first time that Hershey’s introduced a candy and it seemed to have flopped or disappeared. However, given the online fan base, it seems like these should have stayed around much longer. TasteTations fell to the wayside, much like some of the Hershey’s creations like Swoops, Kissables, Bliss, and others too. 

According to various news releases, TasteTations came out sometime around 1996. They had a few really great flavors and they heavily marketed the candy with commercials, print marketing, and other avenues. In some stores, you could find free samples to try out as well. They were fairly inexpensive considering the type of candy. 

Despite being popular and well-loved, they simply didn’t meet the expectations according to Hershey, and this led to their discontinuation. 

A Little About Hershey

The Hershey Company is a longstanding company that was originally introduced as Hershey Chocolate Co in 1894. They’ve served more than 125 years in the industry and continue to go strong. Not only can you enjoy tons of treats, but you can also visit Hershey Land and enjoy the thrills. 

The company has changed and evolved over time, going through a few different names as they’ve adapted. Now, they are The Hershey Company, and Hershey’s is a trade name for their candies as well. Hershey is a family business that was founded by Milton S. Hershey. 

The company has almost 20 plants worldwide, and they sell tasty treats all over the world. You will find anything from sweets to chocolates, and even Bubble Yum under the Hershey name. Their original plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania is still running and remains the home plant. 

The company has a vast history that started with a small confectioner who worked as an apprentice (Milton Hershey). He actually had more than one failed attempt at creating a confectioner business before he finally seemed to find his edge. His first successful attempt was the Lancaster Caramel Company. 

However, he was inspired to concentrate on chocolate after attending an expo, so he sold that business and invested it into Hershey to create the myriad of Hershey’s candies we know and love today, including the infamous TasteTations. 

Hershey has always believed in giving back, which dates clear back to the original founder. He opened Milton Hershey School, which was an industrial school geared towards orphaned boys. It was a boarding school that trained these boys in various trades and prepare them for college. You will find several other philanthropic involvements as well. 

When Were TasteTations Invented? 

TasteTations reportedly first came to the market sometime around 1996. The history available regarding these tasty hard candies is minimal so it’s challenging to piece together the entire story of the candy. In fact, news articles don’t even have a specific timeframe for when the discontinuation of these candies occurred. 

What we could find is that many people were still seeing TasteTations in areas like Canada well into the year 2004. But in the United States, the candies were long gone by then so likely had been trickling out. From what we were able to uncover, TasteTations were discontinued sometime in the early 2000s, and it seems like the reason provided was simply that they didn’t compete well enough with other similar hard candies. 

Who Owns TasteTations?

TasteTations were owned by The Hershey Company for the short timeframe that they were on the market. The candy was not sold away, but simply discontinued and is no longer in production. 

Hershey’s has had several candies like this through the years. It’s inevitable that not every single candy produced will remain on the market indefinitely. Unfortunately for those that love TasteTations, this is just one of those candies that didn’t stick. It’s sad for the fans, but a simple side effect of being in the candy business. 

Surely, we can rest easy knowing Hershey did what they thought was best in discontinuing this option. 

How Did TasteTations Get Their Name?

We don’t have any real story telling us the naming convention. But based on the name, we think we can figure out where the inspiration likely came from. After all, this candy is certainly a tasty temptation. When you put parts of those words together, you come up with TasteTations, right? 

Again, that is not verified but it’s always interesting to guess at the possible stories behind the naming conventions. 

Logo

Flavors

Even though TasteTations were only around for a few years, they did have several different flavors. From our understanding, they came out with all of their flavors at one time so there wasn’t a steady introduction of flavors like some brands. 

These are the flavors that were available. 

• Caramel
• Chocolate Mint
• Peppermint
• Butterscotch
• Chocolate 

They were all tasty choices, depending on your personal preferences. Each candy was just a small, round hard candy similar to Werther’s or Crème Savers in size and shape. 

While many brands typically start with a single flavor and then add or test other flavors, that doesn’t seem to be the way things worked with TasteTations, although maybe not all the flavors came out at the exact same time. 

With very limited information available, it’s simply impossible to really know how it worked, or whether this had an impact on their success. 

Ingredients

• Chocolate Mint: Sugar, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Cream, Milk Fat, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Salt, Vanillin (an Artificial Flavoring), Soya Lecithin (an Emulsifier), and Oil of Peppermint.
• Chocolate: Sugar, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Cream, Milk Fat, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Salt, Vanillin an Artificial Flavoring, and Soya Lecithin (an Emulsifier).
• Carmel: Sugar, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Cream, Dairy Butter, Whey, Salt,  Soya Lecithin (an Emulsifier), and Vanillin (an Artificial Flavoring).
• Butterscotch: Sugar, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Cream, Dairy Butter, Whey,  Salt, Artificial Flavoring, and Soya Lecithin (an Emulsifier).
• Peppermint: Sugar, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Artificial Coloring, and Oil of Peppermint.

Nutrition

Serving Size:	1 Plate (60g)	% Daily Value *
Amount Per Serving
Sugar	10g	20%
Protein	0g	0%
Calories	60 kcal	3%
Trans Fat	0g	0%
Cholesterol	5mg	1%
Potassium	0mg	0%
Vitamin A	0 IU	0%
Iron	0mg	0%
Sodium	50mg	2%
Calcium	0mg	0%
Fat Calories	10 kcal	0%
Carbohydrate	13g	4%
Total Fat	1g	2%
Saturated Fat	0.50g	3%
Fiber	0g	0%
Vitamin C	0mg	0%

Pictures

Commercials

Conclusion

It’s always fun to reminisce and try to maintain the history of some really awesome candies out there. TasteTations is yet another candy that was simply not around for very long. While it seems like a great idea, for whatever reason Hershey decided it wasn’t working. 

Jot this down as a candy that was gone far too soon. If you had the chance to try it out during those few short years, consider yourself lucky as so many people will never get that opportunity.