Hershey's Inspiring Story

In the Beginning

The inspiring story of Hershey’s begins with its founder, Milton S. Hershey - a determined pioneer who would change the confectionery world with the Milk Chocolate Bar that bears his name and his philanthropic personality which still benefits many to this day.

This on-going century and a half old journey saw the industrial revolution and social changes that took place in those days and has stood the test of time. It all began in 1894 when candy manufacturer Milton Hershey came up with the idea to add chocolate coating to his caramels. Know then as the Lancaster Caramel Company, whose use of fresh milk in caramels was very successful at the time, after having seen chocolate making machines for the first time, Hershey sold his caramel company for $1,000,000 (=28,834,000 today) and began to focus on chocolate manufacturing.

In his own words:

“Caramels are just a fad, but chocolate is a permanent thing...”

For the farm boy who never had much of a chance at education, providing that opportunity for others was always an important priority. As early as 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Hershey Industrial School, a school for orphan boys we know today as the Milton Hershey School. In 1918 and with no fanfare, Hershey transferred the bulk of his considerable wealth, including ownership in the Hershey Chocolate Company, to the Hershey Industrial School.

Caramel Company to Chocolate Empire

So in 1903, Hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in his hometown, Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which later came to be known as Hershey, Pennsylvania. The town was an inexpensive place for the workers and their families to live, and Milton treated the people well and provided leisure activities to make sure the citizens enjoyed themselves. The milk chocolate bars manufactured at this plant proved successful, and the company grew rapidly.

Apart from their finger-licking good chocolate bars, Hershey’s is also renown for its other delicious products. You may be familiar with Kit Kat and Whoppers, but did you know that Hershey’s is also responsible for distributing Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? Harry Burnett Reese – the inventor, actually worked for Hershey beginning in 1917 as a dairyman for the Hershey Farms, moved up to factory worker in 1921, and by 1925 had developed an assortment of candies which we was able to sell to department stores in Lancaster, advertising them as “Made in Hershey”. He went on to build his own factory in 1926 and then in 1941, with the wartime rationing of sugar, Reese focused his production resources on his own masterpiece, the peanut butter cup, which required less sugar than most other confection of the time. After Reese died in ’56 he left the company to his six sons who eventually sold it to the Hershey Chocolate Coporation $23.3 million during a time when Reese’s annual sales were $14 million.

Did you Know?

- 80 million Hershey Kisses are produced each day.

- Prior to World War II, Bruce Murrie, son of long-term president of Hershey’s (Will Murrie), made a deal with Forrest Mars to create a hard sugar-coated chocolate that would be called M&M’s (for Mars and Murrie). The new confection would use Hershey chocolate during the the rationing era. Murrie had a 20% interest in the confection, but in 1948 Mars bought out Murrie’s interest and would become one of Hershey’s primary competitors.

Hershey`s has come a long way. From making caramels on a farm to having their own Hershey Store in Times Square, the inspiring journey behind the name serves as an example of how far one good idea can take you.

-iCandy