HERSHEY,
Pa., Jan. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hershey
Company (NYSE: HSY) today announced that Michele Buck, Chairman of the Board of
Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer, has informed the
Board of her intention to retire from the Company effective
June 30, 2026. Ms. Buck intends to
serve in her existing roles until her successor is appointed, at
which time she plans to resign from the Board and transition to a
senior advisor role until her retirement.
The Board has appointed a special committee to direct the search
for the Company's next CEO and will consider external and internal
candidates, in partnership with a nationally recognized search
firm.
"It has been the pinnacle of my career to lead Hershey, a truly
one-of-a-kind company. Our team has created one of the strongest
and most recognizable snacking portfolios in the industry and I am
immensely proud of what we have accomplished," said Buck. "I am a
firm believer that our long-term success is rooted in Hershey culture – the spirit of innovation has
kept us at the forefront of new and changing trends to best serve
our customers and consumers, made us a stronger partner for our
communities and contributed to significant value creation for our
shareholders. This year will be my 20th at Hershey and
as we embark on a new year, I believe now is the right time to
formally activate our succession planning and begin the transition
to Hershey's next leader."
Victor Crawford, Lead Independent
Director of the Board, said, "The Board is grateful for Michele's
vision and transformational leadership, not only over the past
eight years as our CEO but for the past two decades. Michele has
made innumerable marks on Hershey, including serving as the key
architect of the Company's expansion into broader snacking
categories, driving sustainable international growth and building
advanced capabilities and growth platforms to evolve Hershey into a
stronger and more diversified business. Succession planning is a
matter the Board and Michele have been discussing and with
Michele's continued guidance and leadership, we are confident we
will execute a seamless transition."
Hershey reaffirms its previously announced full-year 2024
financial outlook and intends to provide its 2025 outlook in
connection with its regularly scheduled earnings release in
February.
About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company 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 more than
20,000 employees in the U.S. and worldwide who work daily to
deliver delicious, high-quality products. Hershey has more than 90
brand names in approximately 80 countries that drive more than
$11.2 billion in annual revenues,
including Hershey's, Reese's, Kisses, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher,
Twizzlers and Ice Breakers, and salty snacks including SkinnyPop,
Pirate's Booty and Dot's Homestyle Pretzels.
For 130 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,
Hershey has focused on helping children succeed through equitable
access to education.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including statements regarding our business outlook and financial
performance. Many of these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "assume,"
"believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future,"
"intend," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strategy,"
"target" and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs
like "could," "may," "might," "should," "will" and "would," among
others. These statements are made based upon current expectations
that are subject to risk and uncertainty. Because actual results
may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, you should not place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements when deciding whether to buy, sell or
hold the Company's securities. Factors that could cause results to
differ materially include, but are not limited to: disruptions or
inefficiencies in our supply chain due to the loss or disruption of
essential manufacturing or supply elements or other factors; issues
or concerns related to the quality and safety of our products,
ingredients or packaging, human and workplace rights, and other
environmental, social or governance matters; changes in raw
material and other costs, along with the availability of adequate
supplies of raw materials and the Company's ability to successfully
hedge against volatility in raw material pricing; the Company's
ability to successfully execute business continuity plans to
address changes in consumer preferences and the broader economic
and operating environment; selling price increases, including
volume declines associated with pricing elasticity; market demand
for our new and existing products; increased marketplace
competition; failure to successfully execute and integrate
acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures; changes in
governmental laws and regulations, including taxes; political,
economic, and/or financial market conditions, including with
respect to inflation, rising interest rates, slower growth or
recession, and other events beyond our control such as the impacts
on the business arising from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine; risks and uncertainties related to
our international operations; disruptions, failures or security
breaches of our information technology infrastructure and that of
our customers and partners (including our suppliers); our ability
to hire, engage and retain a talented global workforce, our ability
to realize expected cost savings and operating efficiencies
associated with strategic initiatives or restructuring programs;
complications with the design, implementation or usage of our new
enterprise resource planning system, including the ability to
support post-implementation efforts and maintain enhancements, new
features or modifications; and such other matters as discussed in
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, our Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q for the quarterly period ended March
31, 2024, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarterly period ended June 30, 2024,
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended
September 29, 2024 and our other
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time
to time. The Company undertakes no duty to update any
forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual
results or changes in the Company's expectations.
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SOURCE The Hershey Company