The Hershey Company 🍫 is undoubtedly America’s favorite chocolate maker, holding the top spot in the US confectionery market. While famous for its popular candy brands—Reese’s, Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers, Kit Kat, and Kisses—it also produces baking supplies, syrups, sprinkles, chocolate milk, cocoa, and nut butters. The name Hershey is synonymous with chocolate, but it all started with caramel.
Born into a humble family, Milton Hershey couldn’t pursue formal education, so as a teenager he completed a four-year apprenticeship under a master confectioner. After several failed attempts to launch his own business, he acquired chocolate-making equipment at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Experimenting with boiled milk, sugar, and cocoa beans, he set out to create an affordable, mass-produced milk chocolate. Over the next few years, Milton Hershey perfected his recipe and in 1903 built a new factory in a town that now bears his name.
