Hershey releases 2020 sustainability report

The Hershey Co. recently released its 2020 Sustainability Report, which reviews the company’s holistic sustainability strategy and highlights progress on key environmental and social initiatives.

“At Hershey, our purpose – to make more moments of goodness – and our values of togetherness, integrity, excellence, and making a difference, grounded our every effort as we put goodness into action by looking after one another and working together each and every day to make a positive impact,” Michele Buck, Hershey chairman, president and CEO, said.

Hershey’s holistic sustainability strategy is called the Shared Goodness Promise and is meant to encourage positive change to advance more sustainable growth with socially conscious and responsible business practices. Initiatives include climate action, community engagement, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee wellbeing, responsible sourcing, and respecting human rights.

Notable milestones include:

• Investing $1 million to produce more than 40 million masks.
• Achieving its commitment to sourcing 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa. The company also committed to 100 percent direct sourcing of all cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana by 2025.
• Reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 23.7 percent and Scope 3 emissions by 12.6 percent.
• Investing $1.5 million in the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to provide scholarships for underrepresented groups.