York Peppermint Pattie

York Peppermint Pattie is a dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection produced by The Hershey Company.

It was first produced in York, Pennsylvania, by Henry C. Kessler at his York Cone Company in 1940, for sale in the Northeastern United States, Ohio, Indiana and Florida. In 1972, the York Cone Company was acquired by Peter Paul, which launched the York Peppermint Pattie nationally in 1975.

In 1978, Peter Paul merged with Cadbury Schweppes. York passed to the Hershey Foods Corporation when it acquired the US operations of Cadbury Schweppes in 1988. Recently production of the York Peppermint Pattie has shifted to Mexico.

The confectionery features strongly contrasting flavors, with a particularly bitter chocolate coating around a sugar center. A sugar-free version of the candy is also available.

Many chocolate-covered peppermints had been made before the York Peppermint Pattie came on the market, but Kessler's version was firm and crisp, while the competition was soft and gummy. A former employee and York resident Phil Kollin remembered the final (sample) test the pattie went through before it left the factory. "It was a snap test. If the candy didn't break clean in the middle, it was a second." The current patties are only semi hard.