Hershey releases sustainability report celebrating 125th anniversary

The Hershey Co. recently released its 2019 Sustainability Report celebrating 125 years.

“As we celebrated our 125th anniversary, we succeeded in honoring our founder by addressing key challenges facing our communities and our consumers, from 100 percent certified sustainable cocoa to addressing human rights across our entire value chain,” Michele Buck, Hershey chairwoman, president and CEO, said. “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.”

Hershey reported that it had achieved its goal of using 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa, 100 percent Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil-certified mass balance palm oil, and 100 percent third-party certified sustainable virgin fiber pulp and paper products.

The company also committed to set a science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal by 2021 and is working toward goals it set in 2015 to reduce water usage, waste, and emissions by 25 percent by 2025.

Hershey more than doubled its Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems from 2018 to 2019.

The company reports that it supported 51,009 farmers to improve the quality and yield of cocoa and supported 21,194 farmers in crop diversification.