Judy Gaines

Judy Gaines is the soft-commodities consultant interviewed in Reese’s heir vs. chocolate skimpflation. She explains the commodity and regulatory side of the episode, including chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, legal milk-chocolate standards, and the price pressure created by a Cocoa Supply Shock.

Her role is to move the story from Brad Reese’s taste and label complaint to the economics of chocolate manufacturing. She says high cocoa costs can lead companies to raise prices, shrink packages, and reformulate, making Skimpflation a plausible interpretation even while Hershey also cites shape, size, and consumer-preference reasons.

Connections

• Cocoa Supply Shock, Commodity Price Exposure, and Climate Food Price Transmission - commodity-price frame.
• Chocolate Label Standards, Chocolate Compound, and [[FoodAndDrugAdministration|FDA]] - regulatory and ingredient-standard frame.
• Hershey, [[Reeses|Reese’s]], and Brad Reese - source case.