The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey’s, is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in North America, but it’s actually well known as a great brand around the entire world.
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.
Hershey’s products are sold in over sixty countries worldwide. In addition, Hershey is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation. It is also associated with the Hersheypark Stadium and the Giant Center.
The first plant outside Hershey, Pennsylvania, opened on June 15, 1963 in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, and the third opened on May 22, 1965 in Oakdale, California. In February and April 2007 Hershey’s announced that their Smiths Falls and Oakdale plants would close in 2008, being replaced in part by a new facility in Monterrey, Mexico. The Oakdale factory closed on February 1, 2008. Hershey chocolate factory in São Roque, Brazil was opened in August 2002.
Hershey also has plants in Stuarts Draft, Virginia; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Hazleton, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Robinson, Illinois and Guadalajara, Mexico.