The Hershey Company
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Leadership History
4 leaders · Full leadership timeline
Hershey is not just a chocolate company; it is a branded snacking company with a powerful U.S. confectionery core and a growing salty-snack arm.
Hershey earns revenue through North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International segments. The model depends on strong shelf presence, brand loyalty, seasonal candy occasions, retail execution, and the ability to use pricing and productivity to absorb commodity shocks.
Founder
Founded Hershey and built the model town of Hershey, Pennsylvania around mass-market milk chocolate.
Founder of Reese's brand
Created the Reese's franchise that Hershey later acquired and turned into its most valuable candy brand.
CEO
Expanded Hershey into salty snacks, led major acquisitions, and managed the early phase of the cocoa inflation cycle.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Became CEO on August 18, 2025 and is leading Hershey through cocoa inflation, pricing decisions, and portfolio optimization.
Hershey's biggest challenge is cocoa inflation. High cocoa and sugar costs can compress margins even when net sales grow, forcing the company to balance price increases against consumer demand and private-label competition.
Kirk Tanner has been President and Chief Executive Officer since August 18, 2025.
Hershey is using pricing, innovation, retail execution, salty-snack expansion, productivity programs, and brand investment to defend confectionery margins while creating more non-chocolate growth options.
See the leadership timeline in this profile for prior CEOs and major leadership eras.
Leadership decisions shape Hershey's growth, capital allocation, risk tolerance, and competitive positioning.