Dive Brief:
- The Hershey Company's earnings of $1.09 per share, adjusted for non-recurring gains, missed Wall Street estimates of $1.15 per share. The company's revenue for the quarter of $1.94 billion also came in lower than analysts' predictions of $1.96 billion.
- Hershey reported a 3.5% uptick in net sales and expects full-year net sales to increase 4.5% to 5.5%. This was a cut below its previously predicted increase of 5.5% to 7.5%.
- In China, Hershey saw many of its consumer packaged goods categories decline, but net sales in North America slightly beat expectations.
Dive Insight:
Hershey announced an 8% price increase last summer, a move that was meant to offset the rising cost of cocoa. The cocoa supply has been threatened by poor weather conditions in major cocoa-producing countries.
On the subject of ingredients, Hershey recently announced it was on an accelerated path to reaching its goal of using 100% sustainable cocoa in its products by 2020. Hershey also announced it will start using simpler, more natural ingredients in several of its staple products — one of several companies making similar changes as of late, including Kraft and Nestle. Whether and how these moves will affect Hershey's cocoa supply, prices, and sales in the future remains to be seen.