Hershey Is Fully Equipped for Halloween, Holiday Season

The company anticipates high single-digit growth for seasonal candy and will have more seasonal products this year.

August 04, 2022

Hershey's Christmas Kisses Candies

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Hershey Company is confident it will meet consumer demand for candy this Halloween and holiday season. News outlets recently reported that the company would be in short supply of candy during the busy holiday season and wouldn’t be able to meet demand, but Hershey says that’s not the case.

“We do anticipate high single-digit growth for our Halloween and holiday seasons and will have even more seasonal products available to the consumer this year than last year,” said Ashleigh Pollart, manager, content strategy and management, Hershey, in a statement.

The shortage reports stemmed from a mostly celebratory earnings call last week. The company’s net sales rose over 19% to $2.37 billion in the fiscal quarter ended July 3, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $2.2 billion.

The company raised its 2022 adjusted profit per share growth forecast to 12% to 14%, up from 10% to 12%. Hershey also now expects net sales to grow between 12% and 14%.

Hershey CEO Michele Buck mentioned on the earnings call that the company “continues to see struggles across the supply chain.” Buck was asked to clarify and said that “early on, it was some of the basic logistics issues largely driven by labor,” while currently scarcity of ingredients, higher costs and the geopolitical environment has “put certain strains on the business.”

Hershey’s Halloween candy is manufactured on the same line as its regular inventory and is prioritized to keep retail stores full during the holiday season.

“With that noted, we made the decision in the spring (when we start making Halloween products) to focus on everyday products to improve on-shelf availability. This strategic decision was made not due to the reasons some outlets are reporting but rather due to everyday and seasonal production occurring on the same lines and having to balance our everyday and seasonal portfolios,” said Pollart.

“As in years past, our everyday, snack size assortment can be applied to seasonal displays if consumers just can’t get enough of our Halloween and holiday products. Moving forward, with higher inventory levels and more capacity, we believe we’ll be well positioned to deliver for the consumer whether they’re reaching for everyday or seasonal products,” she added.

The Halloween season is Hershey’s biggest time of the year—the company sees 10% of its annual sales during that time period.

Hershey’s recorded remarks can be found here, as well as a Q&A session in which CEO Michele Buck speaks on this topic.

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