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===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>
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