Snacking powerhouse shares C-store insights and growing sweet and salty portfolio

HERSHEY, Pa. (Oct. 3, 2023) –The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) will showcase its latest product innovations and category management and human insights at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show Expo in Atlanta from October 4-6, 2023. Visitors to the Hershey booth (#B2932) at the Georgia World Congress Center will see various new products, including a preview of Reese’s Caramel Big Cup, and hear from experts in the convenience store space.

The Reese’s brand is the number one selling candy in the convenience store channel, the top franchise in the category and continues to perform well across packtypes. Combining the two most preferred flavors in chocolate, peanut butter and caramel, Reese’s Caramel Big Cup launches in standard and king sizes in November 2023. KIT KAT® Chocolate Frosted Donut and Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Popcorn also launch next month along with Hershey’s Milklicious in a standard bar packtype and Reese’s Fast Break in super king.

The snacking powerhouse will feature additional offerings from its sweet, salty and better-for-you portfolio, including Hershey’s, Twizzlers, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels, SkinnyPop Popcorn, ONE™ and Lily’s brands.

“We’re ramping up innovation to offer new twists on consumers’ most beloved brands and give retailers more options to drive category excitement with the channel’s top-performing snacks,” said Marlene Creighton, Chief Sales Officer, The Hershey Company. “Retailers can maximize this innovation by leveraging Hershey’s human insights and category management expertise across many focus areas, including planogram strategy, merchandising, distribution, transaction zone optimization and foodservice.”

Convenience Channel Insights

Foodservice

Foodservice in C-store continues to grow, with more stores offering higher-quality food options on par with traditional restaurants. As stores remodel, Hershey recommends planograms that feature foodservice offerings at the front-of-store to enhance customer engagement.

Foodservice meal bundles that include an entrée, beverage, and a snack or dessert item, including candy, donuts, cookies and ice cream, offer consumers convenience, quality and value. Hershey insights demonstrate that standard candy bar bundles are proven basket-builders and can deliver 15 to 35% in incremental growth.

C-store consumers also think it’s important for C-store operators to offer name-brand ingredients in baked goods and are willing to pay more for brands they love. For example, Hershey insights found that purchase intent reaches 90% when a cookie includes Reese’s candy versus 33% purchase intent without the Reese’s brand.

Snacking Trends

With supply in a more stable state, innovation, limited-time offerings and seasonal shapes are increasingly popular methods to drive excitement and engagement across the category. Non-chocolate brands also continue to accelerate, fueled by core growth and innovation. Hershey research concludes that the Jolly Rancher brand is up 13.6% YOY, and the Twizzlers brand growth is up 39%, fueled by take-home 16-oz displays and food bundles. Refreshment trends are strengthening as mobility increases and workers return to the office, with the Ice Breakers brand up 39% vs. category growth of 23%.

Hershey’s Salty Snacks business continues to gain momentum in C-Store, fueled by consumer brand loyalty, with dollar sales growth up YOY for each brand: Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels +26% (vs. pretzel category +16%), SkinnyPop Popcorn +27% (vs. ready-to-eat popcorn category +13%), Pirate’s Booty +17% (vs. cheese snacks and puffs category +13%). Consumers also continue to enjoy sweet & salty “snackfection” combinations through new products like Reese’s Popcorn.

Merchandising

Retailers can maximize category performance by striking a balance across category segments and optimizing the shelf assortment across core and innovation.  

Candy is the most impulsive snacking category in the store and the most responsive to secondary placement. Outside of a full candy set, the most important locations to drive incremental purchases are the counter (on top and below), the end-cap display leading into the candy aisle, and alongside complementary items, including the beverage cooler, coffee and fountain stations and foodservice.

Hershey’s flexible AMP (Achieve Maximum Points) program can help retailers maximize their performance and rebates with product selection, secondary and co-merchandising displays and promotions that best fit their needs and store volume.

For more information about The Hershey Company and its growing portfolio of brands, visit thehersheycompany.com or stop by booth #B2932 at the NACS Show Expo.

About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and is an industry-leading snacks company known for making more moments of goodness through its iconic brands, remarkable people, and enduring commitment to doing the right thing for its people, planet, and communities. Hershey has nearly 20,000 employees in the U.S. and around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, high-quality products. The company has more than 100 brand names in approximately 80 countries worldwide that drive more than $10.4 billion in annual revenues, including Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers, and fast-growing salty snacks including Skinny Pop, Pirate's Booty, and Dot's Homestyle Pretzels.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically, and sustainably. The candy and snack maker's founder, Milton Hershey, created Milton Hershey School in 1909, and since then, the company has focused on helping children succeed through equitable access to education.

To learn more visit www.thehersheycompany.com

Follow:  
http://www.twitter.com/hersheycompany  
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company 
http://www.facebook.com/hersheycompany  
http://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany  
http://www.instagram.com/hersheycompany

Media Contact:
Allison Mason
(717) 307-5598
ammason1@hersheys.com

Tristin Schifferdecker
(502) 599-6142
tschifferdecker@priceweber.com