Ferrero relaunched Butterfinger with a new recipe and turned falling sales around

Butterfinger, a 1920s peanut-butter candy bar, had faded under Nestlé, losing consumers and facing double-digit sales declines before 2018. Nestlé decided to exit US confectionery entirely.

In January 2018 Nestlé agreed to sell its US candy business, including Butterfinger, to Ferrero for $2.8 billion. Ferrara, Ferrero's US unit, then made the risky decision to change the recipe — larger jumbo runner peanuts, more cocoa and milk in the coating, and no TBHQ or hydrogenated oils — and relaunched the bar in early 2019.

The 'Better Butterfinger' campaign was the brand's largest advertising push in more than a decade. Within months, Butterfinger sales were up 17.7% in a recent four-week period versus a year earlier, reversing the decline.

Relaunched in early 2019, Butterfinger's sales rose 17.7% in a four-week period after a year of double-digit declines.

The old recipe had been criticized for years, so change was the point, not the risk.

A higher-quality recipe justified a modernized brand and price.

The biggest ad push in a decade gave the relaunch real reach.

Ferrara had category expertise from running its own candy portfolio.

A heritage brand in decline can be restarted by modernizing the product itself — and a relaunch is only credible if the recipe visibly improves.

The relaunch drew loud complaints from fans of the old formula, but sales data showed the turnaround held. Ferrara went on to apply the same fix-and-relaunch playbook to other brands acquired from Nestlé, like Baby Ruth.