Hershey Begins Move to Simple, Easy-to-Understand Ingredients

The Hershey Company announced it is beginning a transition to simple and easy-to-understand ingredients. This builds and expands on Hershey’s ongoing commitment to responsibly sourcing the ingredients it uses in its product portfolio. “As consumers, our relationship with food is changing. We spend more time talking and sharing with others about what we eat and why we like certain foods, than we spend actually eating. Food matters and at Hershey, we care deeply about it,” said John P. Bilbrey, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company. “We all want and deserve to know what’s in our food. Hershey takes pride in listening to our consumers and customers and understanding what they need. We will continue to make our great-tasting, high-quality iconic brands that people know and love. We also will share more information about what goes into our products in ways that are easy to understand and access.” Hershey is focusing on three key principles:

“We will strive for simplicity with all of our ingredients, but we may not achieve it with every product,” said Bilbrey. “This is a journey and it will take time. We are equally committed to sharing what we achieve and what we don’t. For ingredients that may not be as simple, we will explain what they are and why we need them to provide the great flavors, aromas, textures and appearances that our consumers know and love.” In 2015, Hershey plans to introduce in the U.S. new snacking products such as Brookside Dark Chocolate Fruit & Nut Bars, which will feature a lineup of simple ingredients, and transition some of its most popular chocolate brands, including Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars to simpler ingredients. The Hershey Company will continue updating its website to serve as a resource for information from a full ingredient glossary to in-depth articles about ingredients consumers want to know about and profiles of the suppliers we work with each and every day.