August 25, 2026
Building on What People Already Love
We're a candy and snack company so innovation across our diverse portfolio of 90+ brands varies. Across all those brands and segments, one thing remains true: everything we do starts with people. These folks are not only the consumers we deeply understand and delight; it's the scientists who design and test those products, and the manufacturing workers who make those treats to perfection. The Hershey team is constantly looking at what's happening in culture, what people are eating and talking about, and how preferences change. When we see a consumer need that our brands can authentically fill, we ask ourselves how we can extend what people already love about our brand with a new twist to make it novel and exciting.
That's exactly the story of Jolly Rancher. The brand has built a loyal following because of its bold, distinct flavors. Rather than changing what people love, we've focused on expanding how consumers experience those flavors. Jolly Rancher isn't just the hard candy many people grew up with. Today, consumers can enjoy those same iconic flavors in gummies, ropes and other new formats.
That approach has helped fuel tremendous momentum for the brand, helping it grow from the No. 10 sweets brand in 2021 to the No. 5 sweets brand in 2025 with 26% year-over-year retail sales growth. In fact, in 2025 Jolly Rancher was the 5th fastest growing large CPG brand in any category.
Turning Consumer Insight into Innovation
Two of our most powerful capabilities come together in every successful innovation: Consumer Insights and Research & Development. Consumer Insights helps us understand what people love today, what is changing in culture and where there is room to create something new. R&D brings that opportunity to life through science, creativity and deep product expertise.
Great ideas can come from many places—consumer research, social listening, emerging trends and even conversations with our own employees and families. But regardless of where an idea starts, it must be grounded in a real consumer need. Our Consumer Insights teams help us understand which trends have staying power and which are just a moment. Once we identify something consumers are excited about, our R&D teams move quickly to explore how we can authentically bring it to life in a way only Hershey can.
Creating a new treat is part art and part science – but arguably, mostly science. Our R&D teams develop multiple versions of each new idea, testing different flavor profiles, textures and recipes to create the right experience. Nothing moves forward without consumer validation. Throughout development, concepts are tested with trained taste testers in our Sensory lab (yes, that's a real role. Dream job, anyone?) and untrained candy and snack lovers. We gather feedback, refine recipes, and continue learning until we're confident we have an experience consumers will love.
Innovation requires attention to more than just taste alone. It's the full experience—the color consumers see, the aroma they smell, the texture they feel and the flavor they ultimately enjoy. These elements inspire other parts of the innovation process, like marketing and advertising. Making sure people know about our latest treats is where creativity is at its peak. That means connecting with them in real life or digitally like through influencers and content creators in a way that's relevant and attention-grabbing.
From the Technical Center to Manufacturing: Bringing Recipes to Life at Scale
Once we know we have something consumers love, we work across our manufacturing network to bring those products to more people.
That's where Lancaster, Pennsylvania plays an important role in our sweets production. Jolly Rancher Ropes are manufactured there (along with every single Twizzlers licorice that is produced), turning insights, scientific expertise and product innovation into treats that can be enjoyed by consumers around the world.
On special occasions, we also invite influencers, creators and media to Pennsylvania to experience Hershey's goodness in-person.
CNN recently came behind the scenes in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Hershey to see how our experts develop new Jolly Rancher treats, and saw how we're progressing on our 2025 commitment to move to colors from natural sources by 2027. At the time of CNN's visit, our R&D teams were testing various colors from sweet potatoes to keep the vivid, bright and bold colors a consistent part of the Jolly Rancher consumer experience.
Looking Ahead
A key pillar of our innovation strategy is delivering exciting sensory experiences. To do that, we stay close to consumers and move quickly when we identify opportunities to surprise and delight people.
We know consumers love Jolly Rancher's bold flavor profile. The opportunity ahead is finding even more ways for them to experience those flavors through new forms, textures and occasions.
By building on what consumers already love while bringing them fresh experiences, we can make Jolly Rancher one of our next billion-dollar brands.