Hershey is seeing strong need for its chocolates and seasonal sweets as individuals are caged inside their houses, looking for every little celebration to commemorate.
“Throughout the entire year, seasons was one of the key drivers as consumers really wanted the comfort and the normalcy associated with seasonal traditions and rituals at a time when Covid uprooted their lives,” stated Hershey CEO Michele Buck in an interview Thursday with CNBC’s Sara Eisen on “Closing Bell.”
One noteworthy example, was a pattern Hershey found that as coronavirus cases surged around the nation, need for s’mores components increased. No doubt, households were looking for satisfaction by establishing barbecues in their yards and roasting s’mores by the fire. Hershey stated its chocolate sales were 40% to 50% greater in locations with an increased variety of Covid-19 cases than locations that were lower.
“This past year, we noticed that wherever Covid case counts were elevated, we were seeing increased sales of s’mores ingredients and then we were able to use the case count trajectory as a foreshadow of where we should focus some of those efforts and build displays and put media in those markets,” stated Buck.
Retailers are a good idea to the patterns also and have actually been stock up on sweet for Valentine’s Day and Easter earlier than ever to make certain they have an adquate supply.
Hershey shares closed Thursday up less than 1% at $147.22 after reporting its fourth-quarter sales increased 5.7% to $2.19 billion. Net earnings climbed up 41% to $291.4 million. Excluding products, Hershey made $1.49 per share, outmatching experts’ quotes.
