The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company, often called Hershey or Hershey's, is a big American confectionery company based in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This town has fun places like Hersheypark and Hershey’s Chocolate World. Hershey is one of the largest chocolate makers in the world. Besides chocolate, they also make treats like cookies, cakes, and milkshakes, as well as other products they gained through mergers and acquisitions.

The company was started by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 and was first called the Hershey Chocolate Company. It began as part of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Today, the Hershey Trust Company owns only a small part of the company, but they have most of the voting power.

Hershey’s chocolate can be found in 60 countries. The company has three big distribution centers and is part of the World Cocoa Foundation. It is also linked to places like the Hersheypark Stadium and the Giant Center. Even though the Hershey Company and the Hershey Creamery Company were both started in the same place and year, they are not connected.

History

19th century

After working with a candy maker in Lancaster, Milton S. Hershey opened a candy shop in Philadelphia. This and two other shops did not succeed, so he returned to Pennsylvania and started the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1883. In 1894, he founded the Hershey Chocolate Company as part of his caramel business.

In 1896, Hershey built a plant to make milk chocolate. By 1899, he created a special way to make chocolate that worked better than older methods. In 1900, he began making the famous Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar.

20th century

Using fresh milk in his caramels worked well. In 1900, Hershey sold his caramel company for a lot of money and focused only on chocolate. He said caramels would not stay popular, but chocolate would always be loved.

In 1903, Hershey started building a chocolate factory in his hometown, Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which later became Hershey, Pennsylvania. He created a place for workers to live and built Hersheypark for fun activities. The milk chocolate from this factory became very popular, and the company grew quickly.

In 1907, Hershey introduced Hershey’s Kisses, small bite-sized pieces of chocolate. At first, each piece was wrapped by hand, but later machines made the process faster.

Other popular treats included Mr. Goodbar (peanuts in chocolate) in 1925, Hershey’s Syrup in 1926, chocolate chips in 1928, and the Krackel bar with crisped rice in 1938.

Milton Hershey Schools (MHS)

Milton Hershey, who could not have children, started the Hershey Industrial School in 1909 for orphaned boys. In 1918, he gave a lot of money and stock to the school. It started as a place to teach trades but later focused on preparing students for college. The school was renamed Milton Hershey School in 1951.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Harry Burnett Reese invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in 1923. After he passed away in 1956, his sons ran the company. In 1963, the company merged with Hershey, and by 1969, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups became Hershey’s top seller.

Unionization

In the late 1930s, workers tried to form a union, but a strike turned difficult. By 1940, a union successfully organized the workers.

Atlantic City soap venture

From 1938 to 1952, Hershey tried making soap and other hygiene products. He opened a shop on the Atlantic City Boardwalk that sold special cocoa butter soap. The shop did well for many years before closing in 1953.

M&M’s

Before World War II, Bruce Murrie, son of a Hershey’s president, worked with Forrest Mars to create M&M’s, chocolate candies coated in sugar. Murrie had a part in the product, which used Hershey chocolate during the war. In 1948, Mars bought Murrie’s share and became a competitor to Hershey.

Kit Kat and Rolo

In 1969, Hershey got permission to make and sell Kit Kat and Rolo in the United States. Even after another company bought the original maker, Hershey kept making these treats in the U.S.

Cadbury

In 1988, Hershey got the rights to make and sell many Cadbury-branded chocolates in the United States. Later, they tried to merge with another company but it did not work out.

20th century sales and acquisitions

In 1977, Hershey bought Y&S Candies, makers of Twizzlers licorice. In 1986, they bought Luden’s cough drops but sold the brand later. In 1996, Hershey bought part of the Leaf Candy Company.

21st century

In 2002, Hershey’s owners wanted to sell the company, but people in Pennsylvania did not agree, so the sale did not happen.

In 2004, Hershey bought a macadamia nut company. In 2005, they bought several small chocolate makers. In 2015, Hershey bought a company that makes healthy snack bars. They also bought other snack companies in the following years.

In 2019, Hershey said they could not be sure their chocolate did not use unfair labor. In 2021, some people said Hershey helped unfair treatment, but a judge decided the case later.

In 2023, Hershey began making chocolate with plant-based ingredients. In 2025, a new leader will take over as CEO of the company.

Brands

Main article: List of the Hershey Company brands

Hershey makes chocolate and candy, and also gum and salty snacks. You can find their products in the U.S. and Canada. Hershey keeps making new and fun treats. They have added treats like Pirate's Booty, Skinny Pop, and Dots Pretzels to their list of goodies.

Consumer insights

The Hershey Company learns about what people like and need when they shop. They watch how buyers act in stores to get more information. They use something called the "Hershey Intelligence Engine" to bring together details from big companies and stores to understand customers better.

Manufacturing plants

The first factory outside of Hershey opened in Smiths Falls, Ontario in 1963. Another factory opened in Oakdale, California in 1965. In 2007, Hershey said these two factories would close and be replaced by a new one in Monterrey, Mexico. The Oakdale factory closed in 2008.

Hershey has factories in many places, including Stuarts Draft, Virginia, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Memphis, Tennessee, Robinson, Illinois, and Guadalajara, Mexico. Visitors can learn about Hershey’s history at Hershey's Chocolate World.

In 2012, Hershey opened a new, larger factory in West Hershey. In 2018, they began expanding their Kit Kat factory in Hazle Township, Pennsylvania. In 2023, Hershey bought back their old factory in Smiths Falls, Ontario from a different company, Canopy Growth.

Perception outside the U.S.

Hershey’s chocolate has something called butyric acid. This is part of how they make their chocolate. Some people from other parts of the world might not like this flavor very much.

Additional sources

• Brenner, Joël Glenn (2000). The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey & Mars. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0457-5.*Our History | HERSHEY'S
• History | The Hotel Hershey
• Official Hershey's chocolate and candy site