Corporate Profiles - 2023 - 80

COMPANY overview
The Hershey Co.
Chocolate manufacturer making inroads
in salty snacks category
B
ranching into new categories has been a
focus for The Hershey Co. over the past
six years. While sweets have been its
core competency since its inception, the Hershey,
Pa.-based company has sought to make
gains in the salty snack sector.
During Hershey's investor day conference in
March, Michele G. Buck, chairman, president
and chief executive officer, outlined the company's
opportunities in salty snacks. She said
SkinnyPop, which was acquired in 2017, was
generating approximately $500 million in sales
and Dot's, which was acquired in 2021, had
sales of around $300 million.
" I'd say for salty, where we are less developed,
I'd say our growth is more about where
we are in the stage of developing the maturity
the untapped potential of the pretzel and popcorn
category and its ability to grow. "
To support growth in popcorn, the company
acquired two popcorn manufacturing plants in
Bethlehem, Pa., and Whitestown, Ind., from
Weaver Popcorn Manufacturing in April.
In confectionery, The Hershey Co. lost share
during the first half of this fiscal year due to
competitive innovation, according to the company.
Chief
executive officer -
Michele G. Buck
of those brands than it is tied to the category
growth, " Ms. Buck said. " I mean, certainly, we
think the categories are going to continue to
grow, but we have so much just fundamental
upside there. "
In January, Kristen J. Riggs was promoted to
president of salty snacks, and in March, during
the investor day presentation, she outlined the
opportunity facing the company in salty snacks.
" Currently, pretzels and popcorn are both
around $2 billion in segment sales, " she said.
" Other salty categories go from $7 billion all
the way up to $10 billion in sales. So, we love
80 \ October 2023
" I think many folks have been focused -
certainly we've been focused - a lot on execution
and meeting demand for the past few
years and focused on the core with innovation
not playing as big of a role, " Ms. Buck said
during a July 27 earnings call to discuss firsthalf
results. " And I think now we're just seeing
competitors in the marketplace start to dial up
the innovation more back to historic levels. And
as we go forward, that's certainly an area that
we're going to be focused on as we are continuing
to increase capacity at the same time. "
For the six months ended July 2, Hershey's
net income was $994.17 million, equal to
$4.96 per share on the common stock, up 17%
from $849.03 million, or $4.24 per share, in
the comparable period. Net sales increased
12% to $2.51 billion from $2.25 billion.
Pricing and productivity initiatives supported
the company's performance during the period,
but Ms. Buck indicated price elasticity may impact
the company later in the year.
" Price elasticity increased slightly versus the
first quarter, in line with expectations, and remains
well ahead of historical levels, " she said.
" We expect elasticities to gradually increase as
we progress through the year and enter 2024. "
Deepak Bhatia, formerly vice president of
supply chain optimization technologies with
Amazon, joined Hershey as chief technology
officer. He also was named to the company's
executive committee.
The Hershey Co.'s stock price closed at $209.71
per share on Sept. 13, down 5% when compared
with a year earlier when it closed at $221.75 per
share on Sept. 14, 2022. CP
Hershey Co. net income
in millions
2022
$1,645
2021
$1,478
2020
$1,279
Source: The Hershey Co.
Hershey Co. net sales
in millions
2022
$10,419
2021
$8,971
2020
$8,150
Source: The Hershey Co.
Hershey Co. share price
$278
$252
$226
Source: New York Stock Exchange
$200
Sept. Nov.
2022
HERSHEY CO.
Jan.
2023
Sept. 15, 2023 = $212.36
March M Julyay
HIGH =
May 1, 2023 =
$273.78
LOW =
Sept. 12, 2023 =
$207.59
Sept.
Milling & Baking News * Food Business News * Baking & Snack * Meat+Poultry * Dairy Processing * Pet Food Processing
Corporate Profiles

Corporate Profiles - 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Corporate Profiles - 2023