Hershey Releases 2019 Annual Sustainability Report Celebrating 125 Years of Shared Goodness

Key highlights include Hershey’s progress toward 100% sustainably sourced cocoa, new human rights policies and more

HERSHEY, Pa., June 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) today released its 2019 Sustainability Report, highlighting the company’s commitment to shared goodness as Hershey celebrated a milestone of 125 years.  The report reflects increasing transparency on its sustainability work and showcases Hershey’s progress to date in key areas of focus, such as sustainable cocoa, responsible sourcing, climate change and human rights.

Hershey’s Shared Goodness Promise continues to be a key driver in its sustainability strategy—with a focus on business, planet, communities and youth.  In 2019, Hershey made significant progress in these key focus areas, including commitments to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to set a science-based carbon reduction goal; and a push to resolve some of the most pressing issues in its cocoa supply chain such as child labor.

“As we celebrated our 125th anniversary, we succeeded in honoring our founder by addressing key challenges facing our communities and our consumers, from 100% certified sustainable cocoa to addressing human rights across our entire value chain,” said Michele Buck, Chairman, President and CEO of The Hershey Company.  “Today, as we collectively face an unprecedented time, our purpose is more important than ever—and we will continue our commitment to create more moments of goodness for all.”

Notable milestones highlighted in the report include:

• Investing in a More Sustainable Supply Chain: Hershey is committed to ensuring the ingredients and raw materials it purchases are responsibly sourced.  It has established programs and policies to positively contribute to the sustainability and livelihoods of the communities it depends on to source its ingredients for its products while ​taking the necessary steps to safeguard human rights and protect the people and ecosystems behind the ingredients that make Hershey’s iconic products.  In early 2019, Hershey published its first Human Rights Policy, after conducting an in-depth assessment of the company’s most salient human rights issues.  Today, Hershey integrates human rights training into the new employee orientation process and makes it a requirement for all global procurement professionals.  Additionally, Hershey is well on-track to meet several 2020 responsible sourcing commitments and has already achieved its goals to source 100% certified and sustainable cocoa (a goal Hershey has achieved in early 2020), 100% RSPO-certified mass balance palm oil, and 100% third-party certified sustainable virgin fiber pulp and paper products in the U.S. and Canada.