Talk:The Hershey Company/Archive 1

Recent News?

Shouldn't you at least include the recent news about the company's being for sale and probably going to close down its plant here? You can get the details by searching on "Hershey" and/or "Hershey's" on the Channel 6 webpage at http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/ . -- isis 15 Sep 2002

Three Mile Island

The comment about TMI and radioactive salts in the milk is contentious. It should be removed as it represents a nonscientific point of view (urban legend).

• I got the story from a Helen Caldicott lecture, I guess people shouldn't take her seriously. I'm making an urban legend subject line and re-inserting the info. Caldicott is important enough a source to at least evaluate the accusation's merit. ShadowyCabal

The comment doesn't belong in the article at all (even in the context of what somebody claims) unless some valid, preferably peer-reviewed source can be provided. A Google search for 'hershey strontium' turns up very little other than this and other wiki mirrors and a "natural therapies" website which I am skeptical of. -TexasDex 05:22, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

I've deleted this section entirely -- neither the unsourced rumor nor the ranting POV "debunking" that replaced it belong here. --Calton | Talk 04:17, September 7, 2005 (UTC)

smell of chocolate

I've been to Hershey many times, and the town has never seemed "permeated by the smell of chocolate" to me. Can anyone who actually lives in Hershey either confirm or deny this claim? Maybe the chocolate smell is only noticeable on particular days.

- It does, in fact, smell like chocolate on some days, depending on which way the wind is blowing, production levels, and other environmental factors.

Candy

Like many other words, "Candy" has a different meaning in the USA from other parts of the world. In the UK and other parts of Europe, "Candy" means boiled sweets, such as a murray mints or pear drops. Is there another word which is not U.S.A.-specific that could be used instead?

What about "confectionary"? --Zilog Jones 22:14, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Biased

Are the comments about the texture and chocolate content really necessary? There is an obvious editorial slant on this. One person's "waxy" is another person's "smooth". The comment about the chocolate content is fully justified, but their effect on the taste is not.

- "Texture" is a very real description of chocolate. The author is speaking about the commonly held views in Europe regarding Hershey chocolate (which Americans, in turn, regard European chocolate as being waxy). Subjective, yes, but I think it deserves a mention in the article.

I agree. Though even most American people I have discussed with on chocolate prefer European chocolate to Hershey's - including Cadbury's which is also more vegetable-oil based. --Zilog Jones 22:17, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

I think that the vegetable-oil reference should be removed from the article - a standard Heshey's chocolate bar does not have any oil other than cocoa butter, according to the ingredients. No reverence was provided in the article about the use of vegetable oil. Also, although this was a while ago, some of the worst chocolate I ever had was in Europe, although this was in 1985 - Sweden and Spain seemed to be making chocolate back then with little or no cocoa butter. If this article is refering to chocolate candies, that have a chocolate(ish) shell, then this criticism could be applied to almost all candy manufacturers. drtrivia

This: "It is almost unheard of that USPS place a commercial product on a first-class stamp, but then again, that's the power of the Hershey's Kiss." sounds like marketing material, anyone agree? Michaeltyne 16:13, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Availability

In the Netherlands Hershey Bars aren't available. BramvR 11:34, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Poorly Written

The beginning of the History of Hershey's section strikes me as being poorly written enough to warrant a re-write. Am I alone on this? --RioBranden

I agree, it should definitely be rewritten.

Is Hershey's chocolate considered vegelate?

(moved from SCEhardt's talk page)

You restored the 'vegelate' reference in Hershey's - if you follow the vegelate link, you'll see that it refers to British chocolate, and apparently the use of vegelate is illegal in the US for chocolate. Do you have any evidence that Hershey bars have any vegetable oil other than cocoa butter? I didn't remove the rest of the reference, styles of chocolate differ by country, and people are very picky about their comfort foods. Drtrivia

I think we may be reading the vegelate article differently. It says, "In some nations, including ... the United States, some popular chocolate products contain a proportion of vegetable fat" The article also states, "The term vegelate is sometimes used pejoratively to describe chocolate that contains fats other than those derived from the cocoa bean ("cocoa butter")." I understand the article to mean that the US does in fact allow the sale of 'vegelate,' which is simply chocolate candy with some vegetable oil content. --- As for whether Hershey's products contain vegetable oil, I'm not sure. I'll buy some today and maybe the ingredients list will clear things up. -SCEhardt 14:47, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

I did buy a Hershey's chocolate and confirmed the ingredients before deleting the vegelate reference. Interestingly the newer EU rules apparently allow 5% vegetable oil products to be referred to as 'chocolate'. Drtrivia

The ingredients of Hershey's Milk Chocolate are as follows: Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Milk, Cocoa Butter, Chocolate, Soy Lecithin, And Vanillin, Artificial Flavor) Also, the ingredients of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate are as follows: Sugar, Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Milk Fat, Lactose (Milk), Soy Lecithin, PGPR (Emulsifier), Vanillin, Artificial Flavor, and Milk.

I don't understand how an ingredient of chocolate is 'chocolate,' but it does not appear from this information that the chocolate bars contain any vegetable oil. Does anyone know what 'chocolate' is defined as when it is listed as an ingredient? -SCEhardt 19:00, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

I omitted the references to vegetable fats and chemicals. It simply wasn't true! U.S. food laws prohibit vegetable fats in chocolate. If the product has vegetable fats it cannot be labeled as chocolate, it must be labeled chocolate flavored candy instead.

As far as the chemicals, I don't know where that came from. Hershey's, like many European chocolates, contains artificial vanilla and emulsifiers. It is no different than some of the highest priced chocolate in Europe in that respect.

Hershey's company and radioactive contamination urban legend

Regarding the recent reversion of an edit I made to the article adding information on WHY the urban ledgend started by Caldicot is false. I did not add this section to the article. It was there previously. There was call to remove the section entirely by someone on this page and then another message saying it should be kept with a refutation of the claims made by Caldicot and then another message after that wanting to remove it.(this is all at the top of the page here) I just provided the debunking of this myth. It may need some NPOVing but I think because it has obviously become an urban legend enough for someone [1] to post it here it's ok to keep and to explain why it is not a rational concern. I think it is the job of Wikipedia to inform and IMHO this section can be informative in that it provides a rational explanation of why a particularly outrageous claim about the company is false. --Deglr6328 04:31, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

That someone posted what they call a rumor here says nothing -- zip zero nada nil -- about whether a rumor even EXISTS. Justifying the inclusion of something merely because somebody included it is a good example of "Begging the question". Strike one.

That there is no actual verifiable source or citation for the rumor means that rumor shouldn't even be mentioned. Strike two.

Wikipedia has an NPOV policy, meaning that it is neither its job to nor appropriate for it to engage in "debunking" anything. Wikipedia is supposed to lay out the facts and significant opinions. And since the rumor doesn't even appear to be significant, there isn't even anything to debunk. Strike three.

And, of course, the irony of of your fierce debunking is that all you've done is given wider exposure to nonsense. --Calton | Talk 07:32, September 7, 2005 (UTC)

I think you may need to look at begging the question again, as this subject has nothing to do with that logical fallacy. I provided THREE sources ([2] [3] [4]) which state clearly Caldicot's comments, there are others. If you listen to the radio show she appears on in the last link you can hear her say it herself. I don't know what more proof is needed. I do not see how the NPOV policy in any way prevents the thorough scientific explanation and debunking of a nutty urban legend.... Furthermore, I really cannot see how my explanation of why the claim is nonsense "gives it wider exposure", the nonsense claim was already here before without any counterargument! Also, as to the idea that wikipedia should not provide any kind of debunking and skeptical viewpoint to counter claims and urban legends which are obvious nonsense I think is quite false. For example there is a whole PAGE of debunked McDonalds myths which is done quite well. This myth also appears in Helen Caldicott. It is ShadowyCabal who wants to keep the mention here, I am merely suggesting that if it be kept it should be accompanied with a skepical analysis. --Deglr6328 14:04, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Hello...??--Deglr6328 04:01, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

Difference of Opinion

This is not a valid source:

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/index.php/url_indprod?xlc=77&ltrev=102

So I removed the whole section. Theconroy 17:48, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Good article nomination

This article is currently on hold. There are two minor changes before I make it a good article:

1. If it is the case, state that the main source of corporate revenue is the manufacturing (and distribution?) of confectionary. A sentence or two on distribution would also be helpful.
2. Please verify that the Smith Falls, Oakdale and Hershey manufacturing plants are the only major plants of the company. If not state that there are others, if there are no others state this.

Cedars 02:06, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

I've expanded these areas. Iolakana|^T 21:59, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Rolos and Canada

ok, at the bottom of this page it says 'Rolo (U.S. only)', I'm Canadian, and I've seen them sold here. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lilthor11 (talk • contribs) 20:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC).

Rolos are made in the US under a licensing agreement with Rowntree (now Nestle) in the same way that KitKats are also made in the US. Rolos elsewhere are made by Nestle (or other licensees). typetive --170.20.96.116 21:42, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

I removed the following:

Chocolate

Hershey's chocolate

Most of Hershey's chocolate products are not made using traditional European recipes, but instead use less cocoa and more sugar. Hershey's mixing process partially sours the taste of its final product, making a very different chocolate than traditional European recipes. Hershey's products are sold in many European countries.

I removed it because it was uncited and contained original research. Kuni464 15:21, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I KNOW this information, including the bit about bitternes, is included in the text of "The emperors of chocolate : inside the secret world of Hershey and Mars" by Joël Glenn Brenner, one of the few sources for non-financial information on either company, but I am painfully unfamiliar with the methods to enter citation in Wikipedia articles. Help? Dinobobicus 22:38, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

If that's the case then why does it taste like crumbly vomit? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.201.0.205 (talk) 16:30, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Probably because you vomit every day.

Embezzlement to North Vietnam?

The section about embezzling funds struck me as odd, and I couldn’t find any reference to it online that wasn't just a mirror of the Wikipedia text. Is this true? If so, should be cited.

Moirs plant in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Why is there no mention of this? There is dwelling upon the Smiths Falls plant several times but not once is the Moirs plant [5] nor its shutdown [6] referenced. Again and again I see evidence where Canadian Wikipedia articles seem 'gerrymandered' by the pro-Central Canada (Southern Ontario & Southern Quebec) lobby. This Moirs omission is just one of many, many examples I have seen in the past year. There is more to Canada than just the Quebec-Windsor urban corridor, you know. Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Atikokan (talk • contribs) 05:13, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Lawsuit

I added the lawsuit bit back in but removed the non NPOV and cleaned up the source links. I know a lot of British expats are angry because chocolate is as much part of their culture as tea and (British) biscuits. 2600:1006:B10F:29E:4400:1048:1F55:9F49 (talk) 16:28, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

Difference in flavour

Being used to UK and continental European chocolate and having recently tried Hershey chocolate I'm interested to know the basis of the significant difference in flavour. Clearly it's partly down to personal taste and to what one is used to but personally, I found the Hershey chocolate mildly unpleasant and a friend even went so far as to say it had "a slight redolence of puke". Evidently millions of people would disagree with me and I hope nobody is insulted but what is the difference in the ingredients or manufacture that causes this marked difference in flavour? Mutt Lunker (talk) 00:16, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

See the talk section just above, labeled "I removed the following" Dinobobicus (talk) 20:28, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

GA Reassessment

This discussion is transcluded from Talk:The Hershey Company/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the reassessment.

This article no longer meets the bulk of the GA criteria. The prose is no longer well-written and the article, particularly the history section, is in need of copyediting and clean up (criteria 1). There are huge amounts of unsourced data throughout the article, and some questionable sources being used. A book is listed as a reference, with no actual citations to show how it is being used, nor what pages. The references are also badly formatted, with almost all of them missing key data. This fails GA criteria 2. It does not appear to be broad in coverage, containing only a history of the company and a section on product recalls. There is undoubtedly much more to say about such a long running, large company (criteria 3).

I have left relevant tags on the article related to these issues, and left notifications with relevant projects and primary contributers. If there is no sign of the article being corrected so that it can meet these criteria again, it will be delisted as a GA on September 28, 2008. Additional time will be allowed if there is an active effort seen to correct the article. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 17:38, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

As per the above notes, this article has been delisted as a GA article as nothing has been done to the article since the initial notice was posted and no response was left here. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 05:23, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

I recall hearing that the slightly sour taste of the condensed milk used by Hershey is partially responsible for the distinctive taste. I've read a book (I forget the title) where a snobby European choco-phile described Hershey's as tasting like "wax and vomit." To each his own, I suppose. I have tasted--and enjoyed--chocolate from many other sources, including some unusual blends with spices and whatnot. They're all different...one particular line may or may not be better than Hershey's, but saying that Hershey's actually tastes like puke is, in my mind, pure unadulterated pretentiousness. But I live within sight of the factory, so I suppose I'm biased in my own way.... PurpleChez (talk) 18:10, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

The US came in second in a chocolate competition held in Paris in 2009. I watched a rerun of the contest on the telly a few weeks ago. BTW, the US was second to Japan. lol Now you know what you what to do with your cadburys. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.32.39.121 (talk) 22:54, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

discontinuing use of cocoa butter in some products

There have been reports that Hershey's is no longer allowed to use 'Milk Chocolate' for some of it's product due to their cutting back on the use of cocoa butter for financial reasons. THe U.S. FDA says they need to declare such products 'chocolate candy' instead.Rickremember (talk) 01:59, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

I've heard something similar, with people boycotting as its no longer real chocolate. However, reliable sources are needed before it can be added to the article. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 02:13, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

I believe MSNBC has an article pertaining to this subject -I, however, don't have the time to add it all into the article.Rickremember (talk) 02:32, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

I'll add it - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26788143/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.34.19.80 (talk) 13:49, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism

It looks like the History section has been vandalized. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.183.14.149 (talk) 03:55, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Indeed it was. It has been reverted and warnings left. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 04:13, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Daniel Jones

Is there any verification for the allegation that a Daniel Jones was accused of embezzlement and giving funds to the government of North Vietnam?Foofbun (talk) 03:40, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm not seeing any reliable sources verifying it...so should be removed. -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 03:42, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Per above, this has been removed pending reliable sources:

In 1970, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Daniel Jones was arrested on charges of embezzling funds and funneling profits to the North Vietnamese government. At a preliminary hearing, it came to light that many of the documents had been forged by another member of the board, Joseph Tresnep, who later admitted under oath that he wanted to take his position as Chairman. In 1971, the charges were formally dropped although the reputation of the company was badly damaged. Jones was later replaced by Roger W. Hershey as Chairman of the Board.

-- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 03:44, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

Lettering Mystery

Does anyone know why the lettering of the wrapper is opposite from the lettering upon the chocolate itself on a basic Hershey's Chocolate Bar? Should this be included? I discovered this while watching Ace of Cakes; the chefs were making a giant Hershey cake for the Hershey company to celebrate the 100th anniversary of a school for under priveleged children sponsored by the company. --DMP47 (talk) 00:50, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Not unless it can be reliably sourced that this is so and why (and only if the why is something relevant, not just, as a whole, a bit of cool trivia). -- AnmaFinotera (talk · contribs) 00:54, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Unionization

Someone who has the time and the research interest should expand the unionization of this company. This article seems to only cover that it happened, but none of the struggle to do so. The dynamic that the sit down created between the unionized workers and the loyal community cause alot of emotional and physical pain on both sides. It should have its own section. One link I ran across is here.

Controversy

Removed this section because the ONLY piece of information in it had no citation or references. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.58.228.206 (talk) 03:22, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

They are yummy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.67.38.184 (talk) 18:11, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Changes

There was misplaced information in the product recalls section, fixed it.

misplaced info: "In the video game RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, a Hershey Kissing Lamp, a Hershey's Kissing Tower, a Hershey rollercoaster, and a Hershey Chocolate Shop can be found." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Basalock (talk • contribs) 00:39, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

CEO change

I changed the CEO information on the main article because I am informed about Hershey's products and promotions. I was supposed to be the CEO of Hershey Foods, then when I edited I changed CEO infomation so I could make sense of my CEO identity. Caitlin Walker (3rd account) (talk) 01:03, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Factory tours

The article mentions that factory tours were halted sometime prior to January 2011. As far as the factory in Hershey is concerned regular factory tours actually ceased sometime in the early 1970s. Chocolate World, which replaced the tours of the real factory with an omnimover ride, opened in 1973. Nonetheless, I believe that there is still a sign at one entrance to the real factory explaining that tours have been relocated. PurpleChez (talk) 18:16, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I saw that and fixed the history before I even saw your comment. :) Be bold! Foxyshadis^(talk) 01:37, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Conflict of Interest

I appreciate all edits to my addition to the stuff about the student workers. I assure you I am just a bit bored today in Saudi Arabia. I have no dog in this fight. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 12:21, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I didn't really assume good faith very well there. I just got a bit suspicious about the inclusion of a bunch of external links in the middle of the page, didn't mean to suggest that you had a conflict of interest. --Mrmatiko (talk) 12:45, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

No problem, I appreciate any editing at all. I think the section on the labor thing is not too long. I think the rest of the article about a major corporation is too short. It really reads like a puff piece. Well, step by step. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 13:05, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

Discrepancy between articles

The 'History' section of this article says "80 million [Kisses] are produced each day". The lead of the Hershey's_Kiss article says "More than 60 million Hershey's Kisses chocolates are produced each day". While it is true that 80 is more than 60, what is the point of stating a precise number in one article and a vague number in another? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.130.239.48 (talk) 12:19, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Cocoa Shell Mulch

I remember reading some years ago that Hershey provides cocoa shells, as a byproduct, for mulch.65.37.0.197 (talk) 20:08, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

Development of milk chocolate

I saw on a documentary that Hershey had trouble developing his milk chocolate recipe. He tried travelling to Switzerland, where milk chocolate was already in production, but couldn't learn the secrets of the manufacturers there. Can anyone find any written documentation of this? -- Beland (talk) 20:13, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

My answer to that is that I would love to reword the lede: Hershey is producing something but certainly not chocolate...heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there is no more cocoa in there. --92.202.67.186 (talk) 22:33, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

If it's any consolation the Europeans (as in the other side of the tunnel from me) don't like our British chocolate much either, and occasionally try to stop us calling it chocolate. Britmax (talk) 17:00, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

Merge proposal: Krave Jerky to here

I couldn't establish that Krave Jerky meets WP:ORG or WP:GNG, but could be a useful merge. Boleyn (talk) 20:21, 9 March 2015 (UTC)

@Boleyn: Seconded. As I don't think there's anything mereable here, I just redirect it. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:41, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Bad organization

The "manufacturing plants" and "other" sections grouped under the Hershey School have absolutely nothing to do with the Hershey school. This definitely needs to be reorganized. StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 21:42, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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Merge from Hershey Trust Company

I do not believe Hershey Trust Company meets WP:NCOMPANY, best sources found so far are strictly local. I'd therefore propose merging this entity here. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:40, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Strongly oppose. A deletion request (rather than a prod delete) would be a much better way to go about handling the article. But if this article were to be merged, it would better be merged into Milton Hershey School as the Trust is the administrator of the school. --hmich176 16:32, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Strongly oppose.Hershey Trust Company is merely poorly written. It overlaps some with Milton Hershey School and The Hershey Company, yes, but it has been covered in the news in its own right as an important example of highly influential philanthropic trusts, both as an example of the good and the bad. I find it to meet the WP:NCOMPANY requirements. If consensus is eventually reached that it doesn't, however, then it should be merged into both Milton Hershey School and The Hershey Company as it is highly influential on both: administering the school and owning a clear majority of the voting shares of the company. It has made the news in its own right before, separate from either, typically to do with actions of the Pennsylvania Attorney General. UiLego (talk) 14:54, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

References

Merge from Bar None (chocolate bar)

This merge was proposed but not explained. Bar None (chocolate bar) has no notability IMHO, refs are a blog and a reprinted press release-like entry. I am redirecting this here. --_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here} 06:43, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

bloated

i shortened the sentence in the lede to "It also manufactures baked products, such as cookies, cakes, milk shake, drinks and many more." the deleted words were saying "which increase its variety of range" or something along that line. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.134.199.32 (talk) 07:57, 18 May 2019 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: NAS 348 Global Climate Change

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 January 2023 and 1 May 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cooki3monster676 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Agman2026.

— Assignment last updated by TotalSolarEclipse (talk) 23:19, 5 March 2023 (UTC)