Case Study-Hershey

Whinston and Segal defines ownership as a set of rights and obligations concerning assets (Thomsen and Conyon, 2012, p. 122). The ownership structure, naturally, highly affects the actions of the company. Hershey is a publicly listed company on the New York Stock Exchange. There are two

Hershey’s and Cadburys are moving towards the premium chocolate market through the acquisition or upmarket launches (Zietsma, 2007). The profit potential present in this sector supported by its 20% annual growth rate make it very attractive for large organizations to come forward and avail this opportunity. There is a low threat of new entrants prevailing in this chocolate industry because of the high capital requirements and expected retaliation by current manufacturers. Current players in the industry also possess some barriers to entry for new entrants by maintaining economies of scales with their large production capacity and keeping their product differentiation with their specialized and novelty chocolate products. Even though there are low switching costs and easy access to distribution channels, but still the brand loyalty of the customers including the Rogers’ Chocolate itself make it harder for new firms to come into the competition.

thehersheycompany.com went on to say that the Hershey Chocolate is focused on growing their company globally and sharing Hershey 's chocolate around the world.

Hershey started with 500 acres of land to build the company; within one year of being open he expanded to 12,000 acres (Career). He made the company bigger and better as time went on. When Hershey first opened, milk chocolate was the only candy produced. Around 400,000 quarts of milk were used each day to manufacture chocolate, around half a million pounds of chocolate was produced a day. While planning the rest of the Hershey factory, Milton wanted his employees to have a safe, home-like environment to live in. Workers would need comfortable homes, medical care, recreational facilities, and school for their children. Not only would Hershey help them out financially, he would help them with personal issues too. The production took around a year to do. By then Hershey Company was ready to open and produce candy

The Hershey Company and Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. have weathered the ”Great Depression” with a history of more than one hundred years in the confectionary candy making industry. Their vision and longevity have pushed them into the twenty first century to meet the needs of the community, consumer, affordability, environment and healthy control portions. Both companies have made available, reduced sugar, sugar free, nut free, peanut free and gluten free products that is reflected in their candies, gum and mints. The two companies are worth investing in, but may be better than the other.

The founder of Hershey Chocolate, Milton Hershey, had a long journey to creating some of the most famous candy today. From a young age he lived in poverty and his parents constantly fought due to differences, which would always have an impact on Milton’s life. He started out in the business struggling, first with his caramel business going under and the unhelpful advice of his father that only led to Milton making more mistakes. Once Milton made it big he went on to do amazing things and dedicated a big part of his life to helping other people and focusing on the well-being of his employees. Milton Hershey was indeed one of the most famous and successful people in the candy community, but it was only through many hardships and stress that got him there.

The chocolate industry operates in an oligopoly market. An oligopoly is when a small number of firms dominate the market. While not a quite a monopoly, an oligopoly market is still controlled by a select number of companies and the market can be directly impacted by one or two major firms (Oligopoly Investopedia). Hershey’s has control of the largest market share, holding 44.4% (U.S Market Share). Mars Incorporated follows behind in second by holding 28.9%. While these two companies hold much of the control and power within the industry, LIndt/Ghirardelli and Nestlé maintain a combined share of 15.1% of the industry’s market. This means that four companies hold a combined 88.4% of the market, with two of them holding a combined 73.3%. The market was not always this way however. Up through the 1960s many candy suppliers were regional.

For over one hundred years, there has been only one company that has been on top of the candy industry in North America; Hershey. With over 14,000 employees, serving 70 countries worldwide and net sales of $6.6 billon, Hershey has come out on top. The Hershey company began in 1894 by Milton Hershey. The company has over 8 factories, but their main headquarters resides in Pennsylvania. The beloved Hershey milk chocolate bar has been a favorite by many, but would it still be if more people knew how it came to be that? One of chocolates main ingredients is cocoa. Cocoa, or cocoa beans come from tropical areas around the world, but is mostly found on the Ivory Coast in West Africa. Hershey, along with Mars and Nestle are the three major companies that buy their cocoa from West Africa, but with further investigation, it has been known that over 4,400 children work on those cocoa farms that they buy from.

The proposed sale of Hershey Foods Corporation (HFC) during the summer of 2002 captured headlines and imaginations. After all, Hershey was an American icon, and when the company’s largest shareholder, the Hershey Trust Company (HSY), asked HFC management to explore a sale, the story drew national and international attention. The company’s unusual governance structure put the Hershey Trust’s board in the difficult position of making both an economic and a governance decision. On the one hand, the board faced a challenging economic decision that centered on determining whether the solicited bids provided a fair premium for HFC

M&M’s biggest competitor is Hershey’s brand like M&M candies. The competition is fierce among the chocolate industry. Hershey and Mars are rivals and want the opportunity to gain more of the market share. In 1954, Hershey-ettes were introduced to compete against the similar M&M’s. However, they were not successful and are generally only available for consumers around the Holiday season. By the millennium, Hershey extended the popular Hershey Kisses brand in creating the Kissables. Hershey intended for direct competition to M&M small candy coated round tablet of chocolate in multitude of colors. The candy factories started in standard size packs and by the 70’s moved into standard size candy boxes. In the current year and season, you will find M&M’s in candy canes to small snack sizes and inside ornamental objects. The chocolate world becomes difficult to present as it becomes difficult to come up with new ideas in the candy business. As more companies release products similar to the M&M’s, it will become increasingly difficult for Mars to continue to command the level of market share in the chocolate candy industry and the product has a potential to get lost in the supermarket aisle.

Born into a poor, lower-class family, Milton S. Hershey dropped out of school before reaching the fourth grade. He developed an interest in becoming a confectioner. He believed there would be great demand for affordable, mass-produced chocolate, and thus he built the Hershey Chocolate Company. Hershey’s is now the largest producer of quality chocolates in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery. Although he enjoyed making money, Milton S. Hershey was intent on using his vast fortune for philanthropic purposes. He decided to surround his enterprise with a model town and personally financed the building of roads, utilities,

The decision to sell the shared faced strong opposition from Hershey employees, local businesses, and politicians. The community did not want foreign company to take over Hershey Company due to the legacy of Hershey involvement in the community will be compromised and many jobs might be lost.

From the standpoint of the original Hershey milk chocolate bar, Milton Hershey is the original creator of developing an efficient chocolate manufacturing process during the late 1800s. Milton Hershey developed a method to produce chocolate that tasted delicious, could be created in bulk, and sold to consumers at competitively affordable price. This process begins with obtaining ingredients used to create a chocolate base. Though Hershey’s main factory is in Pennsylvania, the cacao bean is the main ingredient used that needs to be imported outside of the United States. The cacao beans from cacao trees only thrive in tropical climates. These trees grow in tropical rain forests of Brazil and Indonesia. Once the trees produce a significant amount of cacao beans, Hershey hires farmers to pick the cacao beans off of trees. When

The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey 's, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey 's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey 's products are sold in about sixty countries worldwide. In addition, Hershey is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation. The company has been topped to 384, compared with the previous rank 404, in 2013 (CNN, 2013). This paper is going to show the company’s international environment,

In 1894, the Hershey Chocolate Company began in Lancaster, Pennsylvania when Milton Hershey decided to begin producing chocolate coating for his caramels. In 1900, Hershey expanded their business by producing more goods. Once Hershey began mass production, they were able to minimize production costs and make high-quality milk chocolate. After this new production model was established, Hershey began to expand its facilities throughout the northeastern United States. They also increased their supply chain efficiency by building a new facility in close proximity to ports and dairy farms that supply Hershey with its raw materials.