The Hershey Company

What does Hershey own?
Hershey owns a portfolio of approximately 10 major brands across confectionery and snacks, including Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat (U.S. license), Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty, Sour Strips, and LesserEvil. The company also owns manufacturing facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China, and India.

Is Hershey publicly traded?
Yes, The Hershey Company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HSY. The company has been listed since 1927. However, the Milton Hershey School Trust holds approximately 80% of voting power through Class B common stock, giving a charitable trust effective control of the publicly traded company.

Who founded Hershey?
Milton Snavely Hershey founded the company in 1894 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He had previously founded the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1886. Hershey sold his caramel business in 1900 for $1 million and focused on chocolate, building a factory in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which became the town of Hershey. He and his wife Catherine established the Milton Hershey School in 1909, funding it with their entire fortune.

Where is Hershey headquartered?
Hershey is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA. The town was built by Milton Hershey to support his chocolate factory and employees. The company has maintained its headquarters there since its founding, with manufacturing facilities in six countries and approximately 18,000 employees worldwide.

How many brands does Hershey own?
Hershey owns approximately 10 major brands across confectionery and salty snacks. The most significant are Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat (U.S. license), Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, Pirate's Booty, Sour Strips, and LesserEvil. Reese's is the largest brand by retail sales, generating over $2 billion annually.

Who owns Hershey?
The Hershey Company is publicly traded, but the Milton Hershey School Trust holds approximately 80% of voting power through Class B common stock, which carries 10 votes per share versus one vote per share for Class A stock. The trust funds the Milton Hershey School, a private school for children from low-income families. The Hershey Trust Company acts as trustee and exercises the trust's voting rights, giving it effective control of the company.

What is Hershey's revenue?
Hershey reported $11.7 billion in consolidated net sales for FY2025, a 4.4% increase from FY2024. For the first half of FY2026, net sales were $5.9 billion, up 8.7% from the same period in FY2025. The company projects full-year 2026 net sales growth of 4.5% to 5%, with the LesserEvil acquisition contributing approximately 150 basis points.

Has Hershey made major acquisitions recently?
Yes. In November 2025, Hershey acquired LesserEvil, LLC, a producer of organic popcorn and puffed snacks, for an undisclosed sum. In November 2024, the company acquired the Sour Strips brand from Actual Candy, LLC. In May 2023, Hershey acquired manufacturing assets from Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing to strengthen its SkinnyPop supply chain. The company's largest acquisition was Amplify Snack Brands (SkinnyPop) in 2014 for approximately $1.6 billion.

Milton Snavely Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894 as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey had been a caramel manufacturer since 1886, but his visit to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago changed his trajectory. He purchased German chocolate-making machinery at the exposition and began experimenting with milk chocolate, which at the time was a luxury product in Europe and virtually unknown to American consumers.

In 1900, Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Company for $1 million and focused entirely on chocolate. He built a new factory in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, a rural area where he could access fresh milk for his milk chocolate formula. The factory opened in 1905, and the surrounding town was renamed Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey built housing, schools, parks, and infrastructure for his employees, creating one of the earliest examples of a company town in the United States.

The Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar launched in 1900, followed by Hershey's Kisses in 1907. The Kisses were originally hand-wrapped until a wrapping machine was introduced in 1921. Mr. Goodbar arrived in 1925, and Krackle bars in 1938. These products established Hershey as the largest chocolate manufacturer in the United States by the 1930s.

Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Milton Hershey School in 1909, originally for orphaned boys. Hershey placed his entire fortune in a trust to fund the school. This trust, now called the Milton Hershey School Trust, remains the controlling shareholder of The Hershey Company through its ownership of Class B common stock.

Milton Hershey died in 1945 at age 88. The company continued to grow under professional management, though it remained privately held through the trust structure until 1927, when shares were first listed publicly. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1927.

Hershey's acquisition strategy began in earnest in the 1960s. In 1963, the company acquired the H.B. Reese Candy Company, maker of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, for an undisclosed sum. Reese's had been founded by Harry Burnett Reese, a former Hershey employee, in 1928. The acquisition added what would become Hershey's second-largest brand by revenue.

In 1977, Hershey acquired Y&S Candies, maker of Twizzlers licorice, for an undisclosed sum. In 1996, the company acquired Leaf North America, adding Jolly Rancher to its portfolio. Hershey also holds a license from Nestle to manufacture and distribute Kit Kat in the United States, an arrangement that dates to 1970 when Rowntree's, the original maker of Kit Kat, granted Hershey the U.S. license.

The company attempted its largest acquisition in 2002, when it agreed to acquire Nestle's U.S. confectionery business for $11.5 billion. The Hershey Trust Company, which controls the Milton Hershey School Trust, blocked the deal, citing concerns about diversification away from the trust's core holding. The trust's decision forced Hershey to abandon the acquisition, illustrating the unique governance constraints imposed by the trust ownership structure.

Hershey expanded into salty snacks through a series of acquisitions. In 2014, the company acquired SkinnyPop parent company Amplify Snack Brands for approximately $1.6 billion. In 2018, Hershey acquired Pirate's Booty parent company B&G Foods' snack brands for approximately $500 million. In May 2023, Hershey acquired certain manufacturing assets from Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing to strengthen its SkinnyPop supply chain.

In November 2024, Hershey acquired the Sour Strips brand from Actual Candy, LLC for an undisclosed sum, adding an emerging sour candy brand to its portfolio. On November 18, 2025, Hershey completed the acquisition of LesserEvil, LLC, a privately held company that produces organic popcorn and puffed snack products. The acquisition price was not publicly disclosed. LesserEvil contributed approximately 10 percentage points of growth to the North America Salty Snacks segment in Q4 2025.

In FY2025, Hershey reported $11.7 billion in net sales, up 4.4% from FY2024. The company faced significant commodity cost pressures, particularly from cocoa prices, which reached record highs in 2024 and 2025. Derivative mark-to-market losses totaled $2.08 per share in FY2025, reflecting the volatility in cocoa futures. Despite these headwinds, Hershey's adjusted gross margin improved as the company implemented price increases and productivity savings.

For 2026, Hershey projects net sales growth of 4.5% to 5%, with the LesserEvil acquisition contributing approximately 150 basis points. The company expects adjusted earnings per share between $8.36 and $8.52, representing 32.5% to 35% growth versus FY2025. Q1 2026 net sales were $3.1 billion, up 10.6%, and Q2 2026 net sales were $2.8 billion, up 6.6%.

Hershey publishes an annual ESG report and has set science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company's Cocoa For Good program, launched in 2018, invests in cocoa-producing communities in West Africa, focusing on farmer livelihoods, child labor prevention, and climate-smart agriculture.

On climate, Hershey has committed to reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by approximately 50% by 2030, against a 2018 baseline. The company has set a science-based target for Scope 3 emissions, which include cocoa sourcing and supply chain emissions. Hershey reports its climate data through CDP.

On cocoa sourcing, Hershey is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation and participates in the Cocoa and Forests Initiative, a coalition of chocolate companies and governments working to end deforestation in cocoa supply chains. The company has committed to sourcing 100% certified and sustainable cocoa. Hershey sources cocoa primarily from Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, where the industry faces systemic challenges including child labor and deforestation.

Hershey is not a Certified B Corporation. The company's sustainability claims are self-reported in its annual ESG report. Independent verification of cocoa sustainability claims is conducted through third-party certification programs including Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade, though Hershey does not hold Fairtrade certification for its full portfolio.

On packaging, Hershey has set targets to reduce virgin plastic use and increase recyclable packaging. The company faces ongoing pressure from environmental groups regarding single-use packaging in confectionery products.

Hershey has been recognized on Forbes' list of America's Best Large Employers multiple times. The company was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for North America in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, Hershey received recognition from the Ethisphere Institute as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies.

The company's marketing has won industry awards, including Effie Awards for advertising effectiveness. Reese's marketing campaigns, particularly around seasonal occasions, have received recognition from the Association of National Advertisers.

Hershey's Milton Hershey School, funded by the trust that controls the company, has been recognized as one of the largest private educational institutions in the United States serving children from low-income families. The school serves approximately 2,000 students and is funded entirely by the trust's holdings in The Hershey Company.

Hershey has faced sustained scrutiny over cocoa sourcing practices, particularly regarding child labor in West African cocoa supply chains. A 2021 report by the University of Chicago found that approximately 1.5 million children worked in cocoa farming in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, despite industry commitments dating to 2001 under the Harkin-Engel Protocol. Hershey, along with Mars and Nestle, has faced class action lawsuits in the United States alleging misleading marketing around cocoa sourcing practices. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in a case (Nestle USA v. Doe) alleging that chocolate companies were complicit in child labor on West African cocoa farms, effectively ending the litigation without a finding of liability.

In 2020, Hershey was one of several chocolate companies named in a lawsuit filed by the board of commissioners of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, which alleged that the companies avoided paying a living income premium to cocoa farmers. The dispute was resolved when Hershey and other companies agreed to pay the premium.

Hershey faced criticism in 2023 and 2024 over price increases on its products during a period of high cocoa costs. Consumer advocates and some politicians accused the company of price gouging. Hershey defended the increases as necessary to offset unprecedented commodity cost inflation. Cocoa prices reached record highs in 2024, exceeding $10,000 per metric ton, driven by crop failures in West Africa.

The company's 2002 attempt to sell itself to Nestle for $11.5 billion created significant public controversy in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania attorney general intervened to block the sale, arguing that the Hershey Trust Company had a fiduciary duty to consider the impact on the local community. The trust ultimately withdrew the sale, and the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law requiring attorney general review of any future sale of the company.