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Hershey is changing its sustainability playbook for the first time in years to reflect the Reese’s maker’s growing presence in the salty snacks category and its growing influence from regulators and consumers.
The updated sustainability pledge, announced Wednesday, the 56th anniversary of Earth Day, includes new commitments to the ingredients and manufacturing facilities that make up Hershey’s growing salty snack business, which includes Dot’s, SkinnyPop and LesserEvil.
Whitney Mayer, Hershey’s head of global sustainability, said the changes reflect the company’s evolving business model while meeting “the expectation that companies must take action and play a larger role” in food system resilience.
“Given (new Hershey CEO Kirk Tanner)’s involvement and this vision we set to drive the next generation of snacks, we needed a sustainability strategy to support it,” Mayer said. “This is about the long-term resilience and growth of the company over time.”
The Almond Joy manufacturer’s sustainability strategy focuses on three areas: how it sources its ingredients, how it creates its iconic treats and snacks, and how it connects with consumers through its product offering and packaging.
Like other chocolate companies, Hershey relies heavily on agriculture for many of its key ingredients.
The 132-year-old company has invested $40 million starting in 2023 as part of its Hershey Income Accelerator program. Support 20,000 cocoa farmers and increase production Mayer says he is now deepening this approach to other ingredients, such as peanuts.
Among its new commitments, Hershey is partnering with Texan By Nature to maintain water resources that support long-term peanut production through a program to help replenish groundwater. The company is also doing more to improve the health of the broader agricultural system with a new commitment to cover 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of land with regenerative, restoration or conservation practices by 2035.
“This is an example of a holistic corporate approach where we’re trying to bring in a broader ingredient list,” Mayer said.
Mayer said Hershey is taking what it has learned about water management from its U.S. candy, mint and gum business and applying it to salty snack manufacturing.
Hershey may be best known for confectionery brands like Reese’s and Kit Kat, but the Pennsylvania-based company is betting big on the public’s growing interest in salty snacks. Purchased in the last 10 years Skinny Pop Popcorn, Pirate’s Booty Cheese Puffs, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels Organic snack brand LesserEvil has officially announced Closed mid-November.
“We’re not just a candy company. We’re offering a wider variety of products,” Mayer said. “Of course, we wanted to balance that with what we were seeing out there, around the changing regulatory environment and the sustainability space, and that’s ultimately what informed where we are today with our new strategy.”
Externally, Hershey and other manufacturers are seeing “increasing regulations that raise expectations” for business performance and accountability, regardless of the political climate. Companies face the following situations: Patchwork of regulations across U.S. states In Europe, California plans to require companies to submit climate disclosures in 2026.
The new strategy comes at a pivotal time for Hershey and the broader food industry as climate change puts further pressure on ingredient supplies. As consumers become more concerned about the food they eat and where it comes from, companies are being pressured to do more.
2023 report Consulting firm Kearney 42% of consumers said they always or almost always consider sustainability when purchasing food. Respondents overwhelmingly placed the responsibility for switching to greener food choices on food and beverage companies.
Sustainability efforts and corporate business performance are sometimes at odds, creating a natural tension. Hershey’s is no different. “Anyone who says they’ve overcome it has probably not looked at this intersection in depth,” Meyer said. “We navigate that tension every day.”
Hershey aims to reduce direct emissions by 50% in absolute terms by 2030, and to source 100% of its electricity from renewable, zero-emission energy sources that same year. Across our portfolio, we are also advancing sustainable packaging by eliminating 25 million pounds of packaging and designing for recyclability.
“We’ve made tremendous progress,” Mayer said of the company’s broader sustainability efforts. “There is clearly still a lot of work to be done.”
