the chocolate manufacturer . for the ice cream company also known as hershey s see hershey creamery company . for other uses see hershey s. it has been suggested that hershey trust company be merged into this article . discuss proposed since november 2015 . the hershey company the original hershey s chocolate factory from 1976 type public traded as nyse hsy s & p 500 component industry food founded february 9 1894 ; 122 years ago 1894 02 09 as hershey chocolate company lancaster pennsylvania u.s. 1 founder milton s. hershey headquarters hershey pennsylvania united states area served worldwide key people john bilbrey president and ceo products list of products manufactured by the hershey company revenue us 7.421 billion 2 2014 operating income us 1.389 billion 2 2014 net income us 846 million 2 2014 total assets us 5.629 billion 2 2014 total equity us 1.519 billion 2 2014 owner hershey trust company number of employees 14 800 2 2014 website www.hersheys.com en us home.html the hershey company known until april 2005 as the hershey foods corporation 3 and commonly called hershey s is the largest chocolate manufacturer in north america . its headquarters are in hershey pennsylvania which is also home to hershey s chocolate world . it was founded by milton s. hershey in 1894 as the hershey chocolate company a subsidiary of his lancaster caramel company . hershey s products are sold in over 60 countries worldwide . 4 5 in addition hershey is a member of the world cocoa foundation . it is also associated with the hersheypark stadium and the giant center . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 hershey pennsylvania 1.3 hershey s kisses 1.4 labor troubles 1.5 m & m s 1.6 21st century 1.7 reese s peanut butter cups 1.8 cadbury s 1.9 krave jerky 2 milton hershey school mhs 3 manufacturing plants 4 other sales and acquisitions 5 product recalls 6 philanthropy 7 criticism 7.1 cocoa purchase 8 see also 9 references 10 external links history edit the hershey s chocolate world store in times square new york city 2008 hershey s syrup circa 1950s hershey store located in the falls avenue entertainment complex in niagara falls canada early years edit after completing an apprenticeship to a confectioner in 1873 milton s. hershey founded a candy shop in philadelphia . this candy shop was only open for six years after which hershey apprenticed with another confectioner in denver where he learned to make caramel . 6 after another failed business attempt in new york hershey returned to pennsylvania where in 1886 he founded the lancaster caramel company . the use of fresh milk in caramels proved successful 7 and in 1900 after seeing chocolate making machines for the first time at the 1893 world s columbian exposition in chicago hershey sold his caramel company for 1 000 000 7 equal to 28 444 000 today and began to concentrate on chocolate manufacturing stating to people who questioned him caramels are just a fad but chocolate is a permanent thing . in 1896 milton built a milk processing plant so he could create and refine a recipe for milk chocolate candies . in 1899 he developed the hershey process which is less sensitive to milk quality than traditional methods and in 1900 he began manufacturing hershey s milk chocolate bars also called hershey s bars or hershey bars . hershey s cocoa ad from 1918 hershey pennsylvania edit in 1903 hershey began construction of a chocolate plant in his hometown derry church pennsylvania which later came to be known as hershey pennsylvania . 7 the town was an inexpensive place for the workers and their families to live . milton treated the people well and provided leisure activities to make sure the citizens enjoyed themselves . the milk chocolate bars manufactured at this plant proved popular and the company grew rapidly . hershey s kisses edit in 1907 he introduced a new candy bite sized flat bottomed conical shaped pieces of chocolate that he named hershey s kiss . initially they were individually wrapped by hand in squares of aluminum foil and the introduction of machine wrapping in 1921 simplified the process while adding the small paper ribbon to the top of the package to indicate that it was a genuine hershey product . 7 today 80 million of the candies are produced each day . other products introduced included mr. goodbar 1925 containing peanuts in milk chocolate hershey s syrup 1926 semisweet chocolate chips 1928 and the krackel bar containing crisped rice 1938 . labor troubles edit labor unrest came to hershey in the late 1930s as a congress of industrial organizations backed union attempted to organize the factory workers . a failed sit down strike in 1937 ended in violence as loyalist workers and local dairy farmers beat many of the strikers as they attempted to leave the plant . by 1940 an affiliate of the american federation of labor had successfully organized hershey s workers under the leadership of john shearer who became the first president of local chapter number 464 of the bakery confectionery tobacco workers and grain millers international union . local 464 still represents the hershey workforce . m & m s edit shortly before world war ii bruce murrie son of long time hershey s president william f.r. murrie struck a deal with forrest mars to create a hard sugar coated chocolate that would be called m & m s for mars and murrie . murrie had 20 % interest in the confection which used hershey chocolate during the rationing era during world war ii . in 1948 mars bought out murrie s interest and became one of hershey s main competitors . 8 21st century edit in april 2006 the chocolate manufacturers association in the united states whose members include hershey nestl and archer daniels midland lobbied the u.s. food and drug administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes . 9 currently the food and drug administration does not allow a product to be called chocolate if the product contains any of these ingredients . 10 11 in june 2006 philadelphia city councilman juan ramos called for hershey s to stop marketing ice breakers pacs a kind of mint due to the resemblance of its packaging to a kind that was used for illegal street drugs . 12 in september 2006 abc news reported that several hershey chocolate products were reformulated to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil as an emulsifier . according to the company this change was made to reduce the costs of producing the products instead of raising their prices or decreasing the sizes . some consumers complained that the taste was different but the company stated that in the company sponsored blind taste tests about half of consumers preferred the new versions . as the new versions no longer met the food and drug administration s official definition of milk chocolate the changed items were relabeled from stating they were milk chocolate and made with chocolate to chocolate candy and chocolaty . 13 a 2016 attempt to sell hershey to mondelez international was scuttled because of objections by the hershey trust . 14 reese s peanut butter cups edit harry burnett reese worked at hershey beginning in 1917 as a dairyman for the hershey farms . in 1921 he went to work in the factory and by 1925 he had developed an assortment of candies which he sold to department stores in lancaster pennsylvania advertised as made in hershey . in 1926 he built his own factory and in 1941 with the wartime rationing of sugar reese focused all of his production resources on his own confectionery specialty reese s peanut butter cups which required less sugar than most other confections of the time . in 1956 reese died leaving the company to his six sons . in june 1963 hershey chocolate corporation acquired reese s company for 23.3 million at a time when reese s sales were 14 million annually . 15 cadbury s edit in 1988 hershey s acquired the rights to manufacture and distribute many cadbury branded products in the united states except gum and mints which are part of mondel z international . in 2015 they sued a british importer to halt imports of british cadbury chocolate angering consumers . 16 17 krave jerky edit in 2005 krave jerky was founded by jon sebastiani after he trained for a marathon and looked for a healthy source of energy . 18 the company was purchased by the hershey company in 2015 for between 200 and 300 million . 19 20 milton hershey school mhs edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message main article milton hershey school unable to have children of his own milton s. hershey founded the milton hershey school in 1909 for orphans . in 1918 milton s. hershey and his wife catherine hershey donated all of their considerable wealth of around 60 million to the boarding school upon catherine hershey s death . the hershey trust company is now the largest shareholder and beneficiary to the school . before his death milton hershey ensured the school would live on by donating 30 % of all future hershey profits to the school . due to this generous donation by america s largest chocolate company mhs now has over 7 billion in assets making it one of the richest schools in the world . today the milton hershey school provides free education health care counseling and a friendly home to 2000 orphans in financial need . the school s programs include sports arts religious studies sciences math language and many other subjects . school colors are gold and brown . students must wear a uniform to class provided to them by the school to encourage equality . their admissions is primarily based on age and financial need for the orphans . the school also provides house parents who are hired couples paid to take care of and nurture the students . the school s fellowship project provides students with hershey employee visits to build long lasting relationships and provide career counseling . additionally the school is located in hershey pennsylvania a city created by milton hershey himself . the city offers security a church a post office and other services for the students . many of its designs resemble hershey chocolate products such as the hershey kisses light posts . most notably perhaps is the fact that mr. milton hershey prohibited the hershey company from using the school as an advertisement or marketing strategy . the school s primary goal is to provide young orphans with the skills necessary to support themselves and their families in the future . manufacturing plants edit the first plant outside hershey opened on june 15 1963 in smiths falls ontario canada and the third opened on may 22 1965 in oakdale california . 21 in february and april 2007 hershey s announced that their smiths falls 22 23 and oakdale 24 25 plants would close in 2008 being replaced in part by a new facility in monterrey mexico . the oakdale factory closed on february 1 2008 . 26 hershey chocolate factory in s o roque brazil was opened in august 2002 . hershey also has plants in stuarts draft virginia ; lancaster pennsylvania ; hazleton pennsylvania ; memphis tennessee ; robinson illinois and guadalajara mexico . visitors to hershey can experience hershey s chocolate world visitors center and its simulated tour ride . public tours were once operated in the pennsylvania and california factories which ended in pennsylvania in 1973 as soon as