Editing The Hershey Company (section)

==History==
===19th century===
{{Further|Milton S. Hershey}}
[[File:Milton S. Hershey, 1910.jpg|thumb|[[Milton S. Hershey]], the company's founder]]
After an [[apprenticeship]] to a [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]] confectioner in 1873, [[Milton S. Hershey]] opened a candy shop in [[Philadelphia]]. The venture failed, and so did a subsequent one in [[Chicago]]. After a third failed business attempt in [[New York City]], Hershey returned to [[Pennsylvania]], where he founded the [[Lancaster Caramel Company]] in 1883.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hersheypa.com/about-hershey/milton-hershey.php|title=Milton S. Hershey|website=www.hersheypa.com}}</ref> The Hershey Chocolate Company was founded in 1894 as a subsidiary of Lancaster Caramel Company.

In 1896, Hershey built a milk-processing plant so he could create and refine a recipe for his milk chocolate candies. In 1899, he developed the Hershey process, which is less sensitive to milk quality than traditional methods.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} In 1900, he began manufacturing the [[Hershey bar|Hershey's Milk Chocolate]] bar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jean |author-link=Jean Anderson (cookbook author) |title=The American Century Cookbook |publisher=[[Crown Publishing Group|Clarkson Potter]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-517-70576-1 |location=New York |pages=11}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Hershey's Milk Chocolate wrapper (1903-1906).png|thumb|Hershey's chocolate wrapper in 1903]]
{{Further|Hershey bar|Hershey's Kiss|Hersheypark|Krackel|Mr. Goodbar}}
The use of fresh milk in caramels proved successful,<ref name="Reference For Business.com">[http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/businesses/G-L/Hershey-Foods-Corporation.html Reference For Business.com]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> and in 1900, after seeing chocolate-making machines for the first time at the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago, Hershey sold his caramel company for $1,000,000<ref name="Reference For Business.com"/> (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1000000|1900}}}} today), and concentrated on chocolate. To people who questioned him, he said, "Caramels are just a fad, but chocolate is a permanent thing."

In 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, later known as [[Hershey, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Reference For Business.com"/> The town was an inexpensive place for the workers and their families to live, though the factory was built without windows, so that employees would not be distracted. To increase employee morale, Hershey provided leisure activities and created what would later become [[Hersheypark]]. The milk chocolate bars from this plant proved popular, and the company grew rapidly.

In 1907, he introduced a new candy: bite-sized, flat-bottomed, conical pieces of chocolate that he named [[Hershey's Kiss]]. At first, each was wrapped by hand in a square of aluminum foil. The introduction of machine wrapping in 1921 sped up the process and added a small paper ribbon to the top of the package, indicating that it was a genuine Hershey product.<ref name="Reference For Business.com"/> Today, over 70 million candies are produced daily.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plant Locations {{!}} The Hershey Company |url=https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/home/plant-locations.html |website=www.thehersheycompany.com |language=en |access-date=May 28, 2020}}</ref>

Other products introduced included [[Mr. Goodbar]] (peanuts in milk chocolate) in 1925, Hershey's Syrup in 1926, semi-sweet [[chocolate chip]]s (a mixture of milk and [[dark chocolate]]) in 1928, and the [[Krackel]] bar with [[crisped rice]] in 1938.

====Reese's Peanut Butter Cups====
{{Main|Reese's Peanut Butter Cups}}
[[H.B. Reese|Harry Burnett Reese]] invented [[Reese's Peanut Butter Cups]] after founding the H. B. Reese Candy Company in 1923.<ref>{{cite news |title=The H.B. Reese Candy Company Story |url=http://www.bradreese.com/images/hb-reese-candy-company-6-9-1956.jpg |publisher=Lebanon Daily News |date=June 9, 1956 |website=BradReeseCom |access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref> Reese died on May 16, 1956, in [[West Palm Beach, Florida]], leaving the company to his six sons.<ref>{{cite web |title=H.B. Reese Death Announcement |url=http://www.bradreese.com/images/hb-reese-death.jpg |website=BradReeseCom |access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref> On July 2, 1963, the H. B. Reese Candy Company merged with the Hershey Chocolate Corporation in a tax-free stock-for-stock merger.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 1963 Reese/Hershey Merger Closing Agenda |url=http://www.bradreese.com/blog/hb-reese-candy-co-hershey-chocolate-merger-agreement-draft-july-1-1963.pdf |access-date=February 8, 2024 |website=BradReeseCom}}</ref> In 1969, only six years after the Reese/Hershey merger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups became the Hershey Company's top seller.<ref>{{cite web |title=Was it Hershey or Reese That Made Peanut Butter Cups Great? |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/was-it-hershey-or-reese-that-made-peanut-butter-cups-great |website=Atlas Obscura |date=October 27, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref> As of September 20, 2012, Reese's was the best-selling candy brand in the United States, with sales of $2.603 billion, and the fourth-best-selling brand globally, with sales of $2.679 billion. 
In 2024, after 61 years of stock splits,<ref>{{cite web |title=Stock Split History |url=https://www.thehersheycompany.com/en_us/investors/profile/stock-split-history.html |access-date=July 25, 2020 |website=The Hershey Company}}</ref> the original 666,316 shares of Hershey common stock received by the Reese family represent 16 million Hershey shares valued at more than $4.4 billion, paying annual cash dividends of $87.6 million.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 1963 Reese/Hershey Merger Closing Agenda |url=http://www.bradreese.com/blog/hb-reese-candy-co-hershey-chocolate-merger-agreement-draft-july-1-1963.pdf |access-date=October 20, 2017 |website=BradReeseCom}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Snickers Surging to Top of Global Candy Race |url=http://adage.com/article/news/snickers-surging-top-global-candy-race/237349/ |publisher=Ad Age |access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://investors.thehersheycompany.com/content/hershey-corporate-investors/en-us/home/news-and-events/press-release/press-release-detail.html?122774 |title=Hershey Raises Quarterly Dividends |website=Hershey Company |date=February 8, 2024 |access-date=February 8, 2024}}</ref>

====Unionization====
[[File:Chocolate workers local.jpg|left|thumb|Hershey Union Hall]]
In the late 1930s, Hershey confronted labor unrest as a [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]]-backed union attempted to organize the factory workers. A failed sit-down strike in 1937 ended in violence; loyalist workers and local dairy farmers beat many of the strikers as they attempted to leave the plant. By 1940, an affiliate of the [[American Federation of Labor]] successfully organized Hershey's workers under the leadership of John Shearer, who became the first president of Local Chapter Number 464 of the [[Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union]]. Local 464 now represents the Hershey workforce.

==== Atlantic City soap venture ====
From around 1938 to 1952, Milton Hershey tried to make toilet soap, which saw a big boom after the [[Great Depression]] as well as other hygiene-related items such as shampoo, toothpaste and perfume. Hershey took this opportunity to try to open a store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, which sold cocoa butter scented toilet soap. The shop was a success for several decades, and the soap's production was sourced from Hershey Estates. Other soaps such as keystone soap, tar soap and shaving soap were also sold at the shop. Product distribution extended from New York City to Baltimore by 1953, when the shop closed down.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hershey's Cocoa Butter Soap – Hershey Community Archives |url=https://hersheyarchives.org/encyclopedia/hersheys-cocoa-butter-soap/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

====M&M's====
{{Main|M&M's}}
{{multiple image
| total_width = 400
| direction = horizontal
| image1 = 2019-04-07 19 41 53 M&M's in the Dulles section of Sterling, Loudoun County, Virginia.jpg
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Rolo-Candies-US.jpg
| caption2 = 
| footer = [[M&M's]] button-shaped chocolates (left) were developed by Hershey and Mars in the 1930s, while [[Rolo]] bonbons (right) were produced by Hershey under license.
}}
Shortly before [[World War II]], [[Bruce Murrie]], son of long-time Hershey's president William F.R. Murrie, struck a deal with [[Forrest Mars, Sr.|Forrest Mars]] to create hard sugar-coated chocolate that would be called [[M&M's]] (for Mars and Murrie). Murrie had a 20% interest in the product, which used Hershey chocolate during World War II [[rationing]]. In 1948, Mars bought out Murrie and became one of Hershey's main competitors.<ref>[http://www.hersheyarchives.org/essay/details.aspx?EssayId=28&Rurl=%2fresources%2fsearch-results.aspx%3fType%3dBrowseEssay "Murrie, William F.R.; 1873–1950"], hersheyarchives.com. Cf section "The Story of M & Ms"</ref>

====Kit Kat and Rolo====
{{Main|Kit Kat|Rolo}}
In 1969, Hershey received a license from UK-based [[Rowntree's]] to manufacture and market [[Kit Kat]] and [[Rolo]] in the United States. After Hershey's competitor [[Nestlé]] acquired Rowntree's in 1988, it was still required to honor the agreement, and so Hershey continues to make and market the products in the U.S. The license would revert to Nestlé if Hershey were sold.<ref name="cnbc.com"/> This became a sticking point in Hershey's failed attempt to attract a serious buyer in 2002, and even Nestlé rejected Hershey's asking price, feeling that the economics would not work.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Possible-buyers-seller-far-apart-on-Hershey-sale-2778035.php |title=Possible buyers, seller far apart on Hershey sale / Price and politics are obstacles |first=Andrew Ross |last=Sorkin |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 27, 2002 |access-date=September 16, 2020}}</ref>

====Cadbury====
{{Main|Cadbury}}
In 1988, Hershey's acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute many [[Cadbury]]-branded products in the United States (except gum and mints, which are part of [[Mondelez International|Mondelēz International]]). In 2015, they sued a British importer to halt imports of British Cadbury chocolate, which reportedly angered consumers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rooney |first=Ben |title=Hershey Lawsuit Angers Fans of British Chocolate in U.S. |work=CNN Money |date=January 23, 2015 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2015/01/23/news/companies/hershey-chocolate-trademark}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Baker |first=Andrew |title=Why is Hershey's Afraid of British Chocolate? |work=The Telegraph |date=January 26, 2015 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11370055/Why-is-Hersheys-afraid-of-British-chocolate.html}}</ref> A [[merger]] between Mondelēz and Hershey's was considered but abandoned in 2016 after Hershey's turned down a $23 billion cash-and-stock bid.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mondelez abandons pursuit of U.S. chocolate maker Hershey |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hershey-m-a-mondelez-intl-idUSKCN1142BE |access-date=July 23, 2019 |work=Reuters |date=August 29, 2016}}</ref>

===20th century sales and acquisitions===
{{Further|Leaf Candy Company|Twizzlers}}
In 1977, Hershey acquired Y&S Candies (based in nearby Lancaster), makers of [[Twizzlers]] [[licorice]] candies, founded in 1845.

In 1986, Hershey's made a brief foray into [[Throat lozenge|cough drops]] when it acquired the [[Luden's]] cough drops brand. In 2001, the brand was sold to Pharmacia, now part of [[Pfizer]],<ref>[http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/fifthavenue.asp Hersheys.com]. Retrieved September 29, 2006.</ref> and Luden's later was acquired by [[Prestige Brands]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ludens.com/ |title=Luden's Home Page |publisher=Ludens.com |access-date=September 26, 2012}}</ref> Hershey's kept Luden's [[5th Avenue (candy)|5th Avenue]] bar.

In 1996, Hershey purchased the American operations of the [[Leaf Candy Company]] from [[Huhtamäki]]. In 1999, the Hershey Pasta Group was divested to several equity partners to form the [[New World Pasta]] company, which is now part of [[Ebro Foods]].

===21st century===
{{Further|Dagoba Organic Chocolate|Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp.|Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker}}
On July 25, 2002, Hershey Trust Company announced that it sought to sell its controlling interest in the Hershey Foods Corporation. The value of Hershey stock rose 25% in a single day, with over 19 million shares traded. Over the following 55 days, criticism of the intended sale from media, the [[Pennsylvania Attorney General]], the [[Hershey, Pennsylvania|Hershey]], and Dauphin County Orphans' Court senior judge, led the company to abandon its attempt to sell the company. Seven Hershey trustees who voted to sell Hershey Foods on September 17, 2002, for US$12.5 billion to the [[Wrigley Company]], which is now part of [[Mars, Incorporated]], were removed by Pennsylvania's Attorney and the Dauphin County Orphans' Court judge.<ref>{{cite web |first=Tamar |last=Lewin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/15/us/10-board-members-to-leave-hershey-s-charitable-trust.html?ref=mikefisher |title=10 Board Members to Leave Hershey's Charitable Trust |work=The New York Times |date=November 15, 2002 |access-date=July 4, 2013}}</ref> Ten of the 17 trustees were forced to resign and four new members who lived locally were appointed. Former Pennsylvania Attorney General LeRoy S. Zimmerman became the new chairman of the reconstituted Milton Hershey School Trustees. Zimmerman publicly committed to having the Milton Hershey School Trust always maintain its ownership of the Hershey Company.

In December 2004, Hershey acquired the [[Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp.]] from [[The Shansby Group]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Standard and Poor's 500 Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/standardpoors50000stan_1 |url-access=registration |publisher=The McGraw-Hill Companies |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-07-147906-6}}</ref>
{{multiple image
|total_width = 350
|image1 = Hershey's en Times Square.jpg
|caption1 = The [[Hershey's Chocolate World]] store in [[Times Square]] in [[Manhattan]] in 2008
|image2 = niagarahershey.JPG
|caption2 = Hershey Store located in the Falls Avenue Entertainment Complex in [[Niagara Falls]], Canada in 2005
}}
In 2005, Krave Jerky was founded by Jon Sebastiani after he trained for a marathon and looked for a healthy source of energy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/node/1720 |title=Hershey Buys Jon Sebastiani's Krave Jerky |website=Columbia Business School}}</ref> Alliance Consumer Growth, a [[private equity]] group, invested in Krave Jerky in 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.pehub.com/2015/02/acg-to-make-more-than-6x-its-money-with-krave-jerky-sale/ |title=ACG to make more than 6x its money with Krave Jerky sale |last=Beltran |first=Luisa |date=February 4, 2015 |newspaper=PE Hub |access-date=February 23, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> Hershey's purchased the company in 2015 for $240 million.<ref name=":0" /> Hershey would later in 2020 sell Krave Jerky to Sonoma Brands, the food industry incubator founded by Sebastiani in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/douglasyu/2020/05/04/hershey-sells-culinary-meat-snacks-company-krave-back-to-sonoma-brands/#7e7b18d81f4d |title=Hershey Sells Culinary Meat Snacks Company Krave Back To Sonoma Brands |author=Douglas Yu |work=Forbes |date=May 4, 2020}}</ref>

In July 2005, Hershey acquired the [[Berkeley, California]]-based boutique chocolate-maker [[Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker]].<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/26/BUGM6DTAOM1.DTL Sfgate.com]. Retrieved June 30, 2006.</ref> In November 2005, Hershey acquired [[Joseph Schmidt Confections]], the [[San Francisco]]-based [[chocolatier]], and in November 2006, Hershey acquired [[Dagoba Organic Chocolate]], a boutique chocolate maker based in [[Ashland, Oregon]].

In June 2006, [[Philadelphia]] city councilman Juan Ramos called for Hershey's to stop marketing "Ice Breakers Pacs", a kind of mint, due to the resemblance of its packaging to a kind that was used for illegal street drugs.<ref>{{cite news |last=Porter |first=Jill |title=Hershey's int/drug: Kisses, disses |work=Philadelphia City News |date=December 5, 2006 |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/hp/news_update/20071205_Jill_Porter___Hersheys_mint_drug__Kisses__disses.html}}</ref>

In September 2006, [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] reported that several Hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace [[cocoa butter]] with vegetable oil as an [[emulsifier]]. According to the company, this change was made to reduce the costs of producing the products instead of raising their prices or decreasing the sizes. Some consumers complained that the taste was different, but the company stated that in the company-sponsored blind taste tests, about half of consumers preferred the new versions. As the new versions no longer met the [[Food and Drug Administration]]'s official definition of "milk chocolate", the changed items were relabeled from stating they were "milk chocolate" and "made with chocolate" to "chocolate candy" and "chocolatey."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26788143/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922152726/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26788143 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 22, 2008 |title=Chocoholics sour on new Hershey's formula |first=Laura |last=Coffey |publisher=[[MSNBC]] |date=September 19, 2006 |access-date=June 10, 2006}}</ref>

In November 2006, the Smiths Falls production plant in Ontario temporarily shut down and several products were voluntarily recalled after concerns over ''[[Salmonella]]'' contamination possibly found in soy [[lecithin]] within their production line. It was believed that most of the products involved in the recall never made it to the retail level.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 13, 2006 |title=Hershey products pulled off Canadian shelves |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hershey-products-pulled-off-canadian-shelves-1.580194 |access-date=September 26, 2012 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 17, 2006 |title=Soy not confirmed as salmonella source in Hershey recall |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/soy-not-confirmed-as-salmonella-source-in-hershey-recall-cfia-1.598250 |access-date=September 26, 2012 |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref>

In December 2011, Hershey reached an agreement to acquire Brookside Foods Ltd., a privately held confectionery company based in [[Abbotsford, British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111208006310/en/Hershey-Reaches-Agreement-Acquire-Brookside-Foods-Ltd |title=Hershey Reaches an Agreement to Acquire Brookside Foods Ltd. |publisher=Business Wire |date=December 8, 2011 |access-date=August 8, 2012}}</ref>

In 2016, Hershey acquired barkTHINS, a New York-based chocolate snack foods company for $290 million.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160426005439/en/Hershey-Acquires-barkTHINS-Snacking-Chocolate |title=Hershey Acquires barkTHINS Snacking Chocolate |website=www.businesswire.com |access-date=July 14, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2017/02/21/brand-boys-how-an-upstart-private-equity-firm-makes-40-a-year-on-gourmet-jerky-and-vegan-makeup/#253c115b93b1 |title=Brand Boys: How An Upstart Private-Equity Firm Makes 40% A Year On Gourmet Jerky And Vegan Makeup |last=Feldman |first=Amy |date=February 21, 2017 |newspaper=Forbes |access-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref>

An August 2016 attempt to sell Hershey to [[Mondelez International]] was abandoned following objections by the Hershey Trust.<ref name="cnbc.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/30/hershey-stock-plummets-after-mondelez-merger-crumbles.html |title=Hershey stock plummets 10% after Mondelez merger crumbles |first=Sarah |last=Whitten |date=August 30, 2016 |work=cnbc.com |access-date=April 17, 2017}}</ref>

{{Infobox company
| name = Amplify Snack Brands, Inc.
| logo = 
| logo_size = 
| former_name = 
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{NYSE was|BETR}} (2016-2017)
| industry = [[Food processing]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|2010}}
| defunct = {{Start date and age|2017}}
| founder = 
| hq_location_city = [[Austin, Texas]]
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| area_served = 
| key_people = 
| products = 
| brands = [[SkinnyPop]]<br>[[Paqui]]
}}
In 2017, Hershey acquired Amplify Snack Brands, the [[Austin, Texas]]-based manufacturer of [[SkinnyPop]] in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.6 billion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schouten |first1=Rebekah |title=Food Business News |url=http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/Business_News/2017/12/Hershey_to_acquire_Amplify_Sna.aspx?ID=%7B1176AB27-4E6E-448C-8236-3F983B7ECC42%7D&cck=1 |website=www.foodbusinessnews.net}}</ref> In September 2018, Hershey announced the purchase of Pirate Brands from [[B&G Foods]] for $420 million in an all-cash deal.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hershey-to-buy-pirates-booty-maker-for-420-million-1536795578 |title=Hershey to Buy Pirate's Booty Maker for $420 Million |last=Gasparro |first=Annie |date=September 12, 2018 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=September 13, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pirate-brands-hershey/hershey-to-buy-cheese-puffs-maker-pirate-brands-for-420-million-idUSKCN1LS3BL |title=Hershey to buy cheese puffs maker Pirate Brands for $420 million |work=Reuters |access-date=September 13, 2018 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/hershey-to-buy-cheese-puffs-maker-pirate-brands-for-420-million.html |title=Hershey to buy cheese puffs maker Pirate Brands for $420 million |last=CNBC |date=September 12, 2018 |work=CNBC |access-date=September 13, 2018}}</ref> These acquisitions marked Hershey's expansion into non-confectionery products.

In August 2019, Hershey announced it would purchase protein bar maker One Brands LLC for $397 million.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.inquirer.com/business/hershey-one-brands-nutriton-bar-healthier-20190829.html |title=Hershey buys maker of high-protein bar as it looks to go healthier |last=Fernandez |first=Bob |website=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=August 29, 2019 |language=en-US |access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref> In October 2019, Hershey announced a collaboration with [[Yuengling]] to produce a limited release collaboration beer titled Yuengling Hershey's Chocolate Porter, becoming Hershey's first licensed beer partnership.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/01/beer-and-chocolate-combined-tasty-recipe-yuengling-hersheys/3789317002/ |title=Beer meets chocolate in new Yuengling and Hershey's rich, chocolatey porter |author=Snider, Mike |date=October 1, 2019 |publisher=USA Today |access-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> In June 2021, Hershey acquired Lily's for $425 million.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/hershey-hsy-buys-lilys-boosts-better-for-you-brand-portfolio-2021-06-28 |title=Hershey (HSY) Buys Lily's, Boosts Better-For-You Brand Portfolio |website=Nasdaq |language=en-US |access-date=June 29, 2021}}</ref> In November 2021, Hershey announced plans to acquire [[Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels]], and their co-packer, Pretzel INC for $1.2B.

In 2019, Hershey announced that they could not guarantee that their chocolate products were free from child slave labor, as they could trace only about 50% of their purchasing back to the farm level. According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', the commitment made in 2001 to eradicate such practices within four years had not been kept, neither at the due deadline of 2005, nor within the revised deadlines of 2008 and 2010, and that the result was not likely to be achieved for 2020.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Whoriskey |first1=Peter |last2=Siegel |first2=Rachel |date=June 5, 2019 |title=Cocoa's child laborers |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/ |access-date=September 3, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In 2021, Hershey was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from [[Mali]] who alleged that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in [[Ivory Coast]]. The suit accused Hershey, [[Nestlé]], [[Cargill]], [[Mars, Incorporated]], [[Olam International]], [[Barry Callebaut]], and [[Mondelez International]] of knowingly engaging in forced labor, and the plaintiffs sought damages for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref>{{cite news |last=Balch |first=Oliver |date=February 12, 2021 |title=Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/12/mars-nestle-and-hershey-to-face-landmark-child-slavery-lawsuit-in-us |access-date=February 13, 2021}}</ref> The case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge [[Dabney L. Friedrich|Dabney Friedrich]] in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stempel |first=Jonathan |date=2022-06-29 |title=Hershey, Nestle, Cargill win dismissal in U.S. of child slavery lawsuit |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/hershey-nestle-cargill-win-dismissal-us-child-slavery-lawsuit-2022-06-28/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |work=Reuters |language=en}}</ref>

In December 2022, Hershey was subjected to a lawsuit over the amount of lead and cadmium in the company's products, especially the Special Dark bar, the 70% Lily Bar, and the 85% Lily Bar.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-30 |title=Hershey sued in US over metal in dark chocolate claim |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64123157 |access-date=2023-01-02 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> The lawsuit alleged that the company failed to warn consumers about the amount of metal in the bars and was based on findings published by the ''Consumer Reports'' magazine in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate |url=https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-safety/lead-and-cadmium-in-dark-chocolate-a8480295550/ |access-date=2023-01-02 |website=Consumer Reports |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2023, the company entered the field of plant-based chocolate concocted with dairy alternatives. The snacks are marketed as Plant Based Extra Creamy and Plant Based Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hershey Company introduces new plant-based chocolate |url=https://www.abc27.com/hershey/the-hershey-company-introduces-new-plant-based-chocolate/ |website=ABC27 |date=7 March 2023}}</ref>