Kirk Tanner said Hershey expanded its innovation pipeline by more than 50% over the past year, a gain tied to faster test-and-learn work and quicker commercialization. The shift matters for retailers and consumers because it is meant to move more ideas through one system, rather than separate product lanes.
Kirk Tanner on the 50% surge
“A year into leading The Hershey Company, I have been thinking about what it is that makes a business durable.” Tanner said. “We’ve expanded our innovation pipeline by more than 50% and created new ways to test, learn and scale ideas faster.” “Our job is not to earn relevance once. It’s to keep our core relevant all the time.”
That language points to a more operational change than a branding reset. Hershey increased R&D investment over the past year, expanded technical capabilities, and accelerated how quickly it moves from consumer insight to commercialization. For shoppers, the practical effect is a shorter path from an idea to a product on shelf.
ONE Hershey and 75,000 stores
Hershey changed course from selling confection and salty snacks largely as separate businesses talking to the same retailers. Under the ONE Hershey model, confection, salty and functional snacking go to market with one voice, backed by a single investment strategy.
A 1,200-person sales force now covers more than 75,000 stores. That reach gives the company a wider route to place new items quickly, but it also raises the bar: presence in American pantries can breed complacency, and presence is not the same as preference.
North America salty snacks sales grew 23% this year, nearly four times faster than the company overall. If that pace holds, the unified model is doing more than simplifying store calls; it is giving Hershey a clearer test of which products can travel across channels, not just survive in them.
REESE’S OREO and HERSHEY Movie
REESE’S OREO generated more than $188 million in retail sales in twelve months and became one of the most successful candy innovations of the last decade. That result shows the company can turn a familiar consumer habit into a measurable launch, which is the kind of signal a faster pipeline is supposed to produce.
The broader campaign has run through “Hershey’s. It’s Your Happy Place,” which debuted at the Winter Olympics and carried through a nostalgic S’mores campaign and Christian Pulisic’s World Cup run. The HERSHEY Movie will continue through the end of the year and share the founder’s story on the big screen for the first time.
Milton Hershey started making chocolate in 1894, and the company says it has lived through two World Wars, the Great Depression and two dozen U.S. presidents. America’s 250th year and Hershey’s 132nd year frame the current push: the company is trying to show that a legacy brand can still produce new products at speed without losing the core that made it durable in the first place.
What specific changes caused Hershey’s innovation pipeline to expand by more than 50% over one year?
