The Annual Weighing of the Reese’s Easter Egg

Last year, I answered the age-old question: Which Reese’s product packs the biggest pb punch? Answer: The original Easter Egg. And we all slept a little better at night knowing that.

I was standing in line today at the grocery store and the Reese’s eggs were within reach so I thought, hmm, I wonder if Reese’s keeps the same the peanut butter to chocolate ratio every year? Is the ratio affected by the economy? The salmonella outbreak? (PS: Can we start a pool on what nut is next affected by salmonella? I am thinking Almonds!)

So I picked up a regular sized egg and a King sized egg and headed home to my “lab.” (Really, I think Reese’s could hire me as a quality control expert.)

First observation: the package for the regular-sized egg says “34 g.” My scale says…35g! GASP! In an economy where every package is getting a little smaller (but not cheaper), Reese’s is giving more than advertised!

Second observation: the peanut butter weight for the regular-sized egg was 20 g, the same as last year. But given that the total weight of the egg was higher this year, the 2009 peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is lower.

Third observation: The King sized egg weighed in at 68 g, as advertised on the package. 39 grams of this was peanut butter. (It was also sort of melted. Which made the peanut butter extraction more difficult than it already is.)

A summary of the results:

Reese's Item	Total Weight	Peanut Butter Weight in grams (Percentage of Total Weight)	Chocolate Weight in grams (Percentage of Total Weight)	Peanut Butter-to-Chocolate Ratio
Easter Egg	35	20 (57%)	15 (43%)	1.33
King-sized Egg	68	39 (57%)	29 (43%)	1.34

Conclusion: Reese's Easter product's peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is apparently recession proof. Perhaps the Big Three in Detroit should examine the Reese's method.