Hershey’s On-Trend Snacks Portfolio & Insights-Driven Shopper Experiences Unveiled At 2017 Sweets & Snacks Expo

HERSHEY, Pa., May 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), the second-largest snacks manufacturer in the U.S. and the leader in U.S. confection1, announced its vision earlier this year to be both an iconic candy company and an innovative snacking powerhouse. Hershey’s expertise and insight into the future of snacks and food retail will be the center point of Hershey’s booth (#1601) at the annual Sweets & Snacks Expo, May 23-25, in Chicago. 

The company’s commercial growth drivers include its expanding portfolio of snacks to win with consumers and its insights-driven merchandising solutions to win with shoppers. In the booth, visitors will have access to insights on Hershey’s latest product innovations and forward-thinking retail solutions designed to increase traffic and drive incremental sales. 

“I’m confident we will fulfill our vision to be an innovative snacking powerhouse. Hershey continues to build an unparalleled portfolio of snacks, category solutions that are proven winners and an approach to collaboration with retailers that is second to none,” said Todd Tillemans, President, U.S., The Hershey Company. “What you see at our booth should serve as an invitation to join us as we define the future of snacks and support our retailers in building an experience that inspires shoppers.” 

Snacks that Delight 

Leveraging its iconic brands, Hershey is bringing excitement to the category in the form of Snackfection – where snacking and confection meet. 

With sweet and salty coming in as the No. 1 favorite snacks flavor combination among U.S. consumers2, Hershey is taking its power brands like Reese’s and Hershey’s, into new forms. The company is examining new occasions and evolving its portfolio to satisfy consumer desire for sweet and salty, and smooth and crunchy. The company’s latest innovations are also expanding Hershey and the category’s reach throughout the traditional store footprint. 

Hershey will be featuring Reese’s and Hershey’s CrunchersCandy, Reese’s and Hershey’s Dipped Pretzels, and Hershey’s Cookies N Creme Dipped Pretzels, innovations that deliver a sweet treat with a crunchy texture. Hershey’s Popped Snack Mix and Reese’s Popped Snack Mix are other examples of its expanding Snack Mix offerings that deliver sweet and salty flavors. 

During the Sweets & Snacks Expo, Hershey will showcase Reese’s Crunchy Cookie Cup, which just hit shelves nationwide after much anticipation, and re-visit Hershey’s Cookie Layer Crunch Bar, one of the biggest innovations in the history of Hershey’s namesake brand. 

Hershey will also showcase its growing number of craft brands – from artisan confections to better-for-you snacks. KRAVE, central to the company’s emerging better-for-you portfolio as a protein-based, on-the-go snack, is debuting its latest artisan jerky flavors – KRAVE Honey Habanero Chicken and KRAVE Pink Peppercorn Beef. barkTHINS continues to bring the best of dark chocolate to simple ingredients. 

Shopping Experiences that Inspire 

The annual candy and snacks symposium takes place just weeks after Hershey released New Retail in a Shopper’s World, a comprehensive whitepaper that examines the evolving relationship between shoppers and retailers. It also explores how the confection and snacks category can play a role in building the future of retail. Hershey outlines the opportunities that exist across pay points, center store and supply chain to make food retail a place shoppers want to go vs. have to go. 

Hershey’s retail evolution team brings together real-time data, analytics, trends and foresight to inform high-performing shopper experiences. As category leader, Hershey is in the trenches with retailers every day optimizing their candy and snacks merchandising – from its gold standard planograms to pay-point solutions. In addition to exploring Hershey-inspired solutions to improve candy aisle shopability, drive incremental sales and develop customized solutions to present-day retail challenges, visitors to Hershey’s booth can explore Medley, an imagined grocery store, and complementary concepts designed to inspire retailers to rethink the shopping experience. 

For more information about Hershey’s commitment to consumers and innovation, please visit our website or stop by booth No. 1601 at NCA's Sweets & Snacks Expo. 

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1 Source: Nielsen AOD xAOC + C 
2 Source: Vision Critical Snacking Shopping Behavior Study 2016 

About The Hershey Company 

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is a global confectionery leader known for bringing goodness to the world through its chocolate, sweets, mints and other great-tasting snacks. Hershey has approximately 18,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.4 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Brookside. Building on its core business, Hershey is expanding its portfolio to include a broader range of delicious snacks. The company remains focused on growing its presence in key international markets while continuing to extend its competitive advantage in North America. 

At Hershey, goodness has always been about more than delicious products. For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be successful. Today, the company continues this social purpose through 'Nourishing Minds,' a global initiative that provides basic nutrition to help children learn and grow. From neighborhoods across the United States to the streets of Shanghai and Mumbai and villages of West Africa, our goal is to nourish one million minds by 2020. 

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