Kudos to Necco

You know how I mentioned that I wrote to Necco complaining about the new flavors? THEY WROTE ME BACK. And as Ben so kindly pointed out, I didn't really wrote a formal letter--it was an e-mail form on their website, for heaven's sake, and it was kind of more of a rant...but not a mean one.
Here's what I wrote: Please bring back your original Sweetheart flavors! I purchased a bag of the new ones and was sorely disappointed. Every year I look forward to the good ol' Necco Conversation Hearts around Valentine's Day, and this year my family and I were sadly disappointed with the new fruit flavors. Most importantly, my favorite kind, the white mint ones, are gone. :( So again, I implore you, bring back the original!

But still, I totally wasn't expecting a reply. Here it is:
January 25, 2010

Dear Ms. Christensen,

Thank you for writing to Necco, I wanted to personally thank you for all of your input on our new Sweethearts. They are a great US made product and I am glad to hear you are a longtime fan. Over the years, our number one product requests have been around producing a more flavorful and softer product. Sweethearts have been America’s favorite Valentine’s Day candy for over 145 years now and we needed to ensure that Sweethearts continue to delight people of all ages.

It’s never easy to change something that hasn’t been changed for a very long time and we appreciate your support as we continue to come up with new flavors and ways to say I Love You. Here’s more information about all of our exciting changes:

Our new softer Original Flavors now include: Green Apple, Blue Raspberry, Strawberry, Lemon, Grape and Orange. The color of the hearts were changed to match the flavors so people could tell what flavor they were eating before they even tried them. The new expressions on the Sweethearts were chosen by over 10,000 Americans at mysweethearts.com back in the summer. The complete list of the top new sayings includes both contemporary expressions like Tweet® Me and Text Me and beloved classics like “Love Me” and “Sweet Pea.” The packaging was changed to make the product easier to find at shelf. And our little 1oz boxes are now slightly smaller with no window, to be more sustainable and easier to handle for tiny kid hands. The back of our 1oz boxes was also changed so that kids could write in their To/From names in pencil.

If you are looking for something to share with the little girls in your life be sure to check out our new Sweethearts Dazzled Tarts with flavors including: Pink Lemonade, Wild Berry Grape, Sour Apple, Watermelon, Extreme Tangerine and Blue Raspberry. These new Sweethearts are dazzled and have crowns and shoes on them!

So, thank you for your feedback and please stick with us. Let us know what you think of our other Sweetheart products. Also, check our www.mysweethearts.com for free recipe ideas and craft projects.

These stores still have the old flavors.

Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, 99 Cent Only, Freds , Odd Lots, Wakefern, Sav A Lot.

Thank you again for writing.

Sincerely,

Theresa Denis
Customer Correspondent

And don't any of you dare to run to Dollar Tree and buy them out before I can get there.