Hershey (HSY)
Makes Reese’s and Hershey’s confectionery alongside SkinnyPop, Dot’s and LesserEvil snacks.
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Hershey makes the chocolate and candy Americans grab at the checkout — Reese's, Hershey's bars, Kit Kat under licence — and, lately, the salty snacks in the next aisle. It sells to distributors and retailers rather than to shoppers, and nearly all of it sells in North America. The last two years were about surviving a jump in the price of cocoa; the next few are about proving the company is more than chocolate.
Item facts: FY2025 · year ended Dec 31, 2025, from filings, earnings calls and company pages.
Judgment weights, not filed revenue
The band summarizes business focus and direction. ~ marks estimates.
7 in detail · 17 more below
Reese's
Hershey's biggest brand — peanut butter in a chocolate shell — at roughly a fifth to a quarter of company sales. Its fortunes track two things it does not set: the price of cocoa, and how much price shoppers will absorb.
Competes with M&M's · Snickers (Mars Wrigley) · Butterfinger · Crunch (Ferrero USA) · Store-brand chocolate (Retailer private label)
In plain English
Peanut butter inside a chocolate shell, sitting in a fluted paper cup. It is Hershey's biggest brand and the one the company keeps stretching — a cookie version, a candy-piece version, and every year the same shapes remade for Halloween, Christmas, Easter and Valentine's.
Hershey does not sell these to you. It sells them by the truckload to distributors and supermarket chains, who mark them up and put them by the checkout. Hershey sets the sticker price but not what cocoa and peanuts cost — and for two years those costs ran against it.
Hershey's bars and Kisses
The namesake bars and foil-wrapped Kisses, roughly a fifth of sales. The push here is toward pricier chocolate — richer textures, movie and music tie-ins — testing whether a mass-market name can charge more and keep its shelf.
Competes with Lindt · Ghirardelli (Lindt & Sprüngli) · Dove · Mars bars (Mars Wrigley) · Clean-label chocolate bars (Smaller challenger brands)
In plain English
The name on the door. Flat brown bars scored into little rectangles, foil teardrops with a paper plume, and newer versions with no sugar or a softer, creamier bite.
This is where Hershey is testing whether ordinary shoppers will pay more. Rivals like Lindt sell fancier chocolate at higher prices, and management talked about premium far more on one recent call than on any before it. The money still arrives the way it always has: cases shipped to retailers at a price Hershey sets, made from cocoa bought at whatever the market asks.
Kit Kat, Cadbury, York and other licensed brands
Chocolate Hershey sells but does not own — Kit Kat and Rolo from Nestlé, Cadbury and Caramello from Cadbury Schweppes affiliates — roughly an eighth of sales. Real money on rented rights, mostly stopping at the US border.
Competes with Cadbury Dairy Milk outside the US (Mondelēz) · Kit Kat outside the US (Nestlé) · Reese's on the same shelf (Hershey)
In plain English
Some of the chocolate on Hershey's shelf is not Hershey's. Kit Kat and Rolo belong to Nestlé; Cadbury and Caramello to Cadbury Schweppes affiliates. Hershey pays for the right to make and sell them in the United States, and outside it those same bars belong to other companies.
Think of it as a rented shelf. It earns real money, and Hershey advertises these brands like its own — but the owners take royalties as the lines grow, several of them cannot travel abroad, and the whole arrangement runs on renewals Hershey has the option, not the guarantee, to take.
SkinnyPop
Ready-to-eat popcorn, the biggest brand in Hershey's salty snacks unit at roughly a twentieth of sales. It leads its own popcorn shelf but sits in an aisle Frito-Lay dominates, and its growth has been steady rather than quick.
Competes with Smartfood (PepsiCo / Frito-Lay) · Angie's Boomchickapop (Conagra) · LesserEvil (Hershey)
In plain English
Popcorn already popped, bagged, with very little on it.
Hershey sells it to the same supermarket and club-store buyers who take its candy, which is much of what makes a snack aisle worth being in. SkinnyPop leads the ready-to-eat popcorn shelf in American stores — roughly $650 million at retail by one industry count — but the wider salty aisle belongs largely to Frito-Lay, whose Smartfood sits right beside it. Hershey's own newer organic popcorn brand makes much the same better-for-you promise to the same shopper.
Dot's Homestyle Pretzels
Seasoned pretzels, a small brand selling faster than Hershey can supply it. Management says it is leading the salty snacks unit; extra capacity arrives in 2027, and freight costs are weighing on that unit's profit.
Competes with Snyder's of Hanover pretzels (Campbell's) · Utz pretzels (Utz Brands) · Frito-Lay assortments (PepsiCo)
In plain English
Pretzels dusted all over with seasoning, rather than the plain salted kind.
Small brand, good problem: people want more bags than the ovens can turn out. Management calls it growing pains and says automation and extra capacity arrive in 2027, so until then the brand grows roughly as fast as Hershey can bake. Moving all those bags around costs money too — freight was named as a drag on the salty snacks unit's profit.
Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers and Sour Strips
Candy with no cocoa in it — hard candy, licorice, gummies, mints — near a tenth of sales. It held its profit margin straight through the cocoa shock, and it sits in the part of American candy still gaining share.
Competes with Sour Patch Kids · Swedish Fish (Mondelēz) · Skittles · Starburst (Mars Wrigley) · Trolli · Nerds (Ferrara (Ferrero))
In plain English
Candy with no chocolate in it — hard candy, twisted licorice ropes, sour gummy strips, mints. Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and Sour Strips, a gummy brand picked up in late 2024.
What matters here is what it is made of: sugar, corn and wheat, not cocoa. So when the cocoa bill blew up, this block held its profit margin while the chocolate side's margin collapsed. It also happens to be where American candy buyers are drifting — non-chocolate has gone from about a third of the country's confectionery a decade ago to roughly two-fifths.
International
Everything sold outside North America — 8.1% of sales and almost no profit: a few million dollars earned on roughly $940 million of sales in 2025, and a small loss in the latest quarter.
Competes with Cadbury outside the US (Mondelēz) · Confectionery outside the US (Nestlé) · Local candy makers (Mexico, Brazil and India rivals)
In plain English
Everything sold outside the United States and Canada, run as one unit — plants in Mexico, Brazil, India and Malaysia making mostly for the people who live there, plus exports beyond them. Local names share the shelf with the American ones: a Mexican candy line, a Brazilian snack, an Indian drink.
It is the smallest piece and the one that barely pays its way. Sales slipped slightly in 2025 and the unit earned only a few million dollars on them; the most recent quarter was a small loss. Management's own description is a premium brand without the scale to lead most of these markets.
Reese'sHershey's biggest brand — peanut butter in a chocolate shell — at roughly a fifth to a quarter of company sales. Its fortunes track two things it does not set: the price of cocoa, and how much price shoppers will absorb.Hershey's biggest brand — peanut butter in a chocolate shell — at roughly a fifth to a quarter of company sales. Its fortunes track two things it does not set: the price of cocoa, and how much price shoppers will absorb.
In plain English
Peanut butter inside a chocolate shell, sitting in a fluted paper cup. It is Hershey's biggest brand and the one the company keeps stretching — a cookie version, a candy-piece version, and every year the same shapes remade for Halloween, Christmas, Easter and Valentine's.
Hershey does not sell these to you. It sells them by the truckload to distributors and supermarket chains, who mark them up and put them by the checkout. Hershey sets the sticker price but not what cocoa and peanuts cost — and for two years those costs ran against it.
Competes with M&M's · Snickers (Mars Wrigley) · Butterfinger · Crunch (Ferrero USA) · Store-brand chocolate (Retailer private label)
Hershey's bars and KissesThe namesake bars and foil-wrapped Kisses, roughly a fifth of sales. The push here is toward pricier chocolate — richer textures, movie and music tie-ins — testing whether a mass-market name can charge more and keep its shelf.The namesake bars and foil-wrapped Kisses, roughly a fifth of sales. The push here is toward pricier chocolate — richer textures, movie and music tie-ins — testing whether a mass-market name can charge more and keep its shelf.
In plain English
The name on the door. Flat brown bars scored into little rectangles, foil teardrops with a paper plume, and newer versions with no sugar or a softer, creamier bite.
This is where Hershey is testing whether ordinary shoppers will pay more. Rivals like Lindt sell fancier chocolate at higher prices, and management talked about premium far more on one recent call than on any before it. The money still arrives the way it always has: cases shipped to retailers at a price Hershey sets, made from cocoa bought at whatever the market asks.
Competes with Lindt · Ghirardelli (Lindt & Sprüngli) · Dove · Mars bars (Mars Wrigley) · Clean-label chocolate bars (Smaller challenger brands)
Kit Kat, Cadbury, York and other licensed brandsChocolate Hershey sells but does not own — Kit Kat and Rolo from Nestlé, Cadbury and Caramello from Cadbury Schweppes affiliates — roughly an eighth of sales. Real money on rented rights, mostly stopping at the US border.Chocolate Hershey sells but does not own — Kit Kat and Rolo from Nestlé, Cadbury and Caramello from Cadbury Schweppes affiliates — roughly an eighth of sales. Real money on rented rights, mostly stopping at the US border.
In plain English
Some of the chocolate on Hershey's shelf is not Hershey's. Kit Kat and Rolo belong to Nestlé; Cadbury and Caramello to Cadbury Schweppes affiliates. Hershey pays for the right to make and sell them in the United States, and outside it those same bars belong to other companies.
Think of it as a rented shelf. It earns real money, and Hershey advertises these brands like its own — but the owners take royalties as the lines grow, several of them cannot travel abroad, and the whole arrangement runs on renewals Hershey has the option, not the guarantee, to take.
Competes with Cadbury Dairy Milk outside the US (Mondelēz) · Kit Kat outside the US (Nestlé) · Reese's on the same shelf (Hershey)
SkinnyPopReady-to-eat popcorn, the biggest brand in Hershey's salty snacks unit at roughly a twentieth of sales. It leads its own popcorn shelf but sits in an aisle Frito-Lay dominates, and its growth has been steady rather than quick.Ready-to-eat popcorn, the biggest brand in Hershey's salty snacks unit at roughly a twentieth of sales. It leads its own popcorn shelf but sits in an aisle Frito-Lay dominates, and its growth has been steady rather than quick.
In plain English
Popcorn already popped, bagged, with very little on it.
Hershey sells it to the same supermarket and club-store buyers who take its candy, which is much of what makes a snack aisle worth being in. SkinnyPop leads the ready-to-eat popcorn shelf in American stores — roughly $650 million at retail by one industry count — but the wider salty aisle belongs largely to Frito-Lay, whose Smartfood sits right beside it. Hershey's own newer organic popcorn brand makes much the same better-for-you promise to the same shopper.
Competes with Smartfood (PepsiCo / Frito-Lay) · Angie's Boomchickapop (Conagra) · LesserEvil (Hershey)
Dot's Homestyle PretzelsSeasoned pretzels, a small brand selling faster than Hershey can supply it. Management says it is leading the salty snacks unit; extra capacity arrives in 2027, and freight costs are weighing on that unit's profit.Seasoned pretzels, a small brand selling faster than Hershey can supply it. Management says it is leading the salty snacks unit; extra capacity arrives in 2027, and freight costs are weighing on that unit's profit.
In plain English
Pretzels dusted all over with seasoning, rather than the plain salted kind.
Small brand, good problem: people want more bags than the ovens can turn out. Management calls it growing pains and says automation and extra capacity arrive in 2027, so until then the brand grows roughly as fast as Hershey can bake. Moving all those bags around costs money too — freight was named as a drag on the salty snacks unit's profit.
Competes with Snyder's of Hanover pretzels (Campbell's) · Utz pretzels (Utz Brands) · Frito-Lay assortments (PepsiCo)
Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers and Sour StripsCandy with no cocoa in it — hard candy, licorice, gummies, mints — near a tenth of sales. It held its profit margin straight through the cocoa shock, and it sits in the part of American candy still gaining share.Candy with no cocoa in it — hard candy, licorice, gummies, mints — near a tenth of sales. It held its profit margin straight through the cocoa shock, and it sits in the part of American candy still gaining share.
In plain English
Candy with no chocolate in it — hard candy, twisted licorice ropes, sour gummy strips, mints. Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and Sour Strips, a gummy brand picked up in late 2024.
What matters here is what it is made of: sugar, corn and wheat, not cocoa. So when the cocoa bill blew up, this block held its profit margin while the chocolate side's margin collapsed. It also happens to be where American candy buyers are drifting — non-chocolate has gone from about a third of the country's confectionery a decade ago to roughly two-fifths.
Competes with Sour Patch Kids · Swedish Fish (Mondelēz) · Skittles · Starburst (Mars Wrigley) · Trolli · Nerds (Ferrara (Ferrero))
InternationalEverything sold outside North America — 8.1% of sales and almost no profit: a few million dollars earned on roughly $940 million of sales in 2025, and a small loss in the latest quarter.Everything sold outside North America — 8.1% of sales and almost no profit: a few million dollars earned on roughly $940 million of sales in 2025, and a small loss in the latest quarter.
In plain English
Everything sold outside the United States and Canada, run as one unit — plants in Mexico, Brazil, India and Malaysia making mostly for the people who live there, plus exports beyond them. Local names share the shelf with the American ones: a Mexican candy line, a Brazilian snack, an Indian drink.
It is the smallest piece and the one that barely pays its way. Sales slipped slightly in 2025 and the unit earned only a few million dollars on them; the most recent quarter was a small loss. Management's own description is a premium brand without the scale to lead most of these markets.
Competes with Cadbury outside the US (Mondelēz) · Confectionery outside the US (Nestlé) · Local candy makers (Mexico, Brazil and India rivals)
Named in filings, launches and programs
- McLane CompanyCustomer programThe wholesale distributor that invoices roughly 27% of Hershey's sales, mostly into convenience stores — the only customer above 10% of sales, with no contract locking the volume in.
- Seasons programsCustomer programHalloween, Christmas, Easter and Valentine's packs of the existing brands, an estimated tenth of sales, and the reason the back half of the year is the busy one.
- LesserEvilBrandOrganic popcorn and puffs, bought for $769.1M cash in November 2025; it supplied nearly all of the salty unit's growth in the latest quarter.
- Pirate's BootyBrandBaked puffed snacks with no trans fat, a small steady line inside the salty snacks unit.
- ONE Bars / FULFILBrandProtein bars, counted inside the confectionery unit; FULFIL advertises up to 20g of protein and 2g of sugar per bar.
- Brookside / barkTHINSBrandDark chocolate with fruit centres, and snacking chocolate. Management said in 2026 that Brookside had stalled out against competition.
- Sour StripsBrandSour gummy strips bought in late 2024; it added about 0.4 points of growth to the confectionery unit in the last quarter of 2025.
- Shaq-a-licious GummiesProductA gummy line launched in 2024 under a celebrity's name — part of Hershey's push into chewy candy.
- TwizzlersBrandTwisted licorice ropes — one of the long-running names on Hershey's non-chocolate shelf.
- Ice BreakersBrandMints and gum — the refreshment end of the candy aisle, sold through the same convenience and dollar-store routes.
- Spreads, snack bites and mixesProduct lineChocolate spreads, bite-size snacks and snack mixes, named in Hershey's own definition of its confectionery business.
- Pantry and food serviceProduct lineBaking chips and syrups for home kitchens and commercial ones — the quiet shelf-stable tail of the confectionery unit.
- Pelon Pelo Rico / IO-IO / SofitBrandLocal brands inside the international unit: Mexican candy, Brazilian snacks and an Indian beverage line.
- ONE HersheyPlatformA 2026 reorganisation that sells sweet, salty and protein to a retailer as one portfolio instead of through separate divisions.
- Protein and functional platformProduct · AnnouncedA venture aimed at new ways of delivering protein; management put growth here in the high single to double digits. The partner is unconfirmed.
- Innovation targetProduct · AnnouncedThe 2026 Investor Day goal: more than $1.5 billion of sales from new products over the following five years.
- Decision intelligence programPlatform · AnnouncedAn analytics push management says should add about $50M of productivity and cut about $100M of inventory over two years.
McLane CompanyCustomer program
The wholesale distributor that invoices roughly 27% of Hershey's sales, mostly into convenience stores — the only customer above 10% of sales, with no contract locking the volume in.
Seasons programsCustomer program
Halloween, Christmas, Easter and Valentine's packs of the existing brands, an estimated tenth of sales, and the reason the back half of the year is the busy one.
LesserEvilBrand
Organic popcorn and puffs, bought for $769.1M cash in November 2025; it supplied nearly all of the salty unit's growth in the latest quarter.
Pirate's BootyBrand
Baked puffed snacks with no trans fat, a small steady line inside the salty snacks unit.
ONE Bars / FULFILBrand
Protein bars, counted inside the confectionery unit; FULFIL advertises up to 20g of protein and 2g of sugar per bar.
Brookside / barkTHINSBrand
Dark chocolate with fruit centres, and snacking chocolate. Management said in 2026 that Brookside had stalled out against competition.
Sour StripsBrand
Sour gummy strips bought in late 2024; it added about 0.4 points of growth to the confectionery unit in the last quarter of 2025.
Shaq-a-licious GummiesProduct
A gummy line launched in 2024 under a celebrity's name — part of Hershey's push into chewy candy.
TwizzlersBrand
Twisted licorice ropes — one of the long-running names on Hershey's non-chocolate shelf.
Ice BreakersBrand
Mints and gum — the refreshment end of the candy aisle, sold through the same convenience and dollar-store routes.
Spreads, snack bites and mixesProduct line
Chocolate spreads, bite-size snacks and snack mixes, named in Hershey's own definition of its confectionery business.
Pantry and food serviceProduct line
Baking chips and syrups for home kitchens and commercial ones — the quiet shelf-stable tail of the confectionery unit.
Pelon Pelo Rico / IO-IO / SofitBrand
Local brands inside the international unit: Mexican candy, Brazilian snacks and an Indian beverage line.
ONE HersheyPlatform
A 2026 reorganisation that sells sweet, salty and protein to a retailer as one portfolio instead of through separate divisions.
Protein and functional platformProduct · Announced
A venture aimed at new ways of delivering protein; management put growth here in the high single to double digits. The partner is unconfirmed.
Innovation targetProduct · Announced
The 2026 Investor Day goal: more than $1.5 billion of sales from new products over the following five years.
Decision intelligence programPlatform · Announced
An analytics push management says should add about $50M of productivity and cut about $100M of inventory over two years.