The Hershey Company
| File:Hershey's logo.JPG | |
| Company type | Public (NYSE: HSY) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Chocolate and candy manufacturer |
| Founded | February 9, 1894[1] |
| Headquarters | Hershey, Pennsylvania |
Key people | Milton S. Hershey, founder; R. H. Lenny,[2] current CEO |
| Products | See List of products manufactured by The Hershey Company |
| Revenue | $4.6 billion USD (2001)[3] |
2,260,787,000 United States dollar (2022)  | |
| 1,644,817,000 United States dollar (2022) | |
Number of employees | 14,300 employees worldwide[4] |
| Website | Hersheys.com |
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY), formerly Hershey Foods Corporation (name changed in April 2005[5]), commonly called Hershey's, is the America's largest chocolate company.[6] The headquarters are located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a town permeated by the aroma of cocoa on some days and home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey's candies are sold worldwide.[7]
Hershey's is one of the oldest chocolate companies in the United States, and an American icon for its chocolate bar. Today, The Hershey Company owns many other candy companies and is also affiliated with Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, which runs Hersheypark, a chocolate-themed amusement park; the Hershey Bears hockey team; HersheyPark Stadium; and the GIANT Center.
History
After completing an apprenticeship to a confectioner in 1876, Milton Snavely Hershey founded a candy shop in Philadelphia which failed six years later.[8] After trying unsuccessfully to manufacture candy in New York, Hershey returned to Pennsylvania, where he founded the Lancaster Caramel Company, whose use of fresh milk in caramels proved successful.[9] In 1900, Hershey sold his caramel company for $1,000,000[10] (about $22,000,000 in today's currency) and began to concentrate on chocolate manufacturing.[11]
In 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in what became Hershey, Pennsylvania.[12] The milk chocolate bars manufactured at this plant proved successful, and the company grew rapidly thereafter.
In 1907 Hershey introduced the small flat bottomed conical shaped pieces of chocolate which Mr. Hershey would name "Hershey's Kisses". While initially they were individually wrapped by hand with squares of foil, in 1921 machine wrapping was introduced and added the small paper ribbon to the top of the package indicating that it was a genuine Hershey product.[13] The product was trademarked three years later and went on to become one of the most successful and well known products ever produced by the company. Other products introduced include MR. Goodbar (1925), Hershey’s Syrup (1926), chocolate chips (1928), and the Krackel bar (1938).
In 1940, over two years after the defeat of the CIO union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor successfully organized Hershey's workers under the leadership of John Shearer, who became the local's first president. Currently, Local 464 of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers represents the Hershey workers, and although it calls itself the "Chocolate Workers," it has successfully organized local workers in other industries.
The first plant outside of Hershey, Pennsylvania was opened on June 15, 1963 in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada.[14] Another plant, that covers two million square feet of manufacturing space (185000 square meters), is the largest chocolate factory in the world;[15] the factory was opened on May 22, 1965 in Oakdale, California.[16] These are the major factories for Hershey's, as tours are offered in the Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada plant. Tours were operated for the Pennsylvanian factory, but this no longer the case.[17]
Hershey's chocolate is available over the United States, due to their wide network of distribution.[18] They have three mega distribution centers, with modern technology and labor management systems.[19]
Chocolate
Today, most of Hershey's chocolate products are not made using traditional European recipes, but instead use less cocoa and a higher incorporation of sugar. It is also notable that while Hershey's products are sold in a number of European countries, they do not dominate any of the European markets.
In 1988, Hershey's acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute many Cadbury-branded products in the United States. The Cadbury creme eggs sold in the United States; however, the eggs are imported by Hershey directly from Cadbury in the United Kingdom.[20]
In July 2005, Hershey's announced that they would be acquiring the Berkeley, California-based boutique chocolate-maker Scharffen Berger.[21]
See also
References
- Brenner, Joël Glenn (2000). The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey & Mars. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0457-5.
- ^ About.com. URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Sptimes.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Preparedfoods.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Booksense.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Booksense.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Reference For Business.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Hershey's Canada (collections.ic.gc.ca) URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Surfnetkids.com/chocfactory.htm URL last accessed July 3, 2006.
- ^ Herhsey's.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Herhsey's.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Fool.com. URL last accessed July 3, 2006.
- ^ The Logistics Intitute # Chris Malon, Hershey Foods URL last accessed July 3, 2006.
- ^ Typetive review URL last accessed June 30, 2006.
- ^ Sfgate.com URL last accessed June 30, 2006.