Have you ever imagined the meaning behind every food that you consume

daily? Some of the food serves a community purpose in addition to being delicious

treats. While many organizations only concentrate on making profit, others believe

that long term benefits to customers and employees are better. Therefore, many

businesses engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is a system where

an organization manages its own behavior without control by authorities, being

socially responsible for itself, employees and the community (Fernado). Moreover,

the primary goal of CSR is to create moral, environmentally friendly, and social

considerations, fostering a positive impact for the community and ensuring long

term sustainable growth (Strauss). CSR has been divided into four principles

including environmental problems, philanthropy and economics (Stobierski). CSR

not only serves as a powerful tool for helping companies enhance customer

relationships but also improves the satisfaction of employees (Stobierski). For

example, a business that follows the CSR system, in the late 1970s until today, is

committed to using ice cream to create a better world by investing in developing

partnership with Black-owned and refugee-hiring suppliers, voter rights and LGBQ+

rights (Strauss). Another business committed to sustainability, maintaining tight

relationships with its factories and sourcing organic and recyclable textiles

(Strauss). While many businesses adopt CSR well in their firm, an organization with

the most responsibility for society and the planet is Hershey because the company

commits to CSR is the way that they do business. Hershey’s demonstrates CSR well

because they not only improve health and nutrition, but also have positive

community impacts, and create sustainable resources of Cocoa.

Hershey has made several efforts to improve health and nutrition for

customers through their products, especially for children, demonstrating their

products and have ingredient transparency. Wiener- Bronner, on the CNN News

website described that Hershey, a company that makes Reese’s, Hershey bars,

Kisses and other types of chocolate and candies announced two new non-daily

products including Reese’s vegan peanut butter cups, and vegan chocolate Hershey

bar containing almonds and sea salt. Both are designed to taste the same with milk

chocolate because each is made with oat milk (Wiener-Bronner). Besides providing

vegan chocolate for their customers, Hershey also brings food security. According to

“Hershey Shares Progress on Social Responsibility Commitments” on the Business

Wire (English) website, the priority of Hershey’s is food safety, and that focus

remained in 2015 by changing from famous products to basic components and

providing understandable nutritional information on their packaging (Business Wire

(English)). They developed a new program known as Smart Label QR-code, being

the first company to adopt Smart Label in the US, allowing customers access to food

information more easily (“Hershey Shares Progress on Social Responsibility

Commitments”). According to “Hershey Highlights Progress in Fourth CSR Report”

on the Business Wire (English) website, Global Food Safety certification is received

by Hershey in 15 fully owned facilities and one joint-venture facility. They also

provide online component dictionaries that provide definitions for every ingredient

used in their brand around the United States and Canada (Hershey Highlights

Progress in Fourth CSR Report). Moreover, Hershey’s aim is to provide meals for

children who are in need. Hershey integrated its business goals by creating the

Nourishing Minds program. Through this global initiative, Hershey provides children

with the essential nutrition necessary for their learning and development by using

their deep knowledge in food processing (Hershey Shares Progress on Social

Nutrition to 50,000 School Children in Ghana with New ‘Energize Learning’ Program”

on the Businesswise website, one of the programs of Hershey is Project Peanut

Butter (PPB), which find the way to improve the nutrition lacking for children, which

is one of the causes of child death around the world nowadays by using local

products. This project allows children in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions to

have enough nutrition and medicine (Beckman). One product that is funded by

Hershey at Peanut Butter factory in Kumasi, Ghana known as The Vivi supplement,

which help to boost the number of daily calories for children to 25 percent. The goal

of the program was to help 50,000 school children by 2016 (Beckman). As a result

of these efforts, it is clear that Hershey contributes to improving customer’s health,

demonstrating their commitment to CSR.

Besides the several efforts of improving health and nutrition for customers,

Hershey commits to CSR by creating numerous positive community impacts. The

first impact is that Hershey improves people’s lives. Beckman describes on the

Businesswire website that in 1909, when Hershey committed to improve children’s

lives, the company established the Milton Hershey School, a private school for

pupils from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade with the focus on social and economic

development. Hershey's complete commitments to help children have a better life

in the future by creating Energize Learning (Beckman). While Hershey’s

commitment to children’s education is through providing school for children, the

company also extends its focus on social responsibility for its employees and local

communities. According to “Hershey’s Third CSR Report Reveals Company Ahead of

Schedule for Goals” on PR Newswire Asia website, The Hershey Company and its

employees are not only working productively to provide highest-quality products to

came from the company and employees to help a thousand of those who were

affected by Typhoon Haiyan (“Hershey’s Third CSR Report Reveals Company Ahead

of Schedule for Goals”). Hershey Philippines also gained the total participation of

their employees for the United Way campaign for the past 3 years to make money,

which is then donated to the National Children’s Hospital (“Hershey’s Third CSR

Report Reveals Company Ahead of Schedule for Goals”). The second community

effort is Hershey’s goal of improving environmental quality. According to “Hershey

Launches Environmental Initiatives” in Candy Industry magazine, when Hershey

started their journey for the environment around 10 years ago, the company

planned to decrease the amount of carbon and transfer their production center to

“zero waste to landfill” initiative, enhancing the commitment of the company to

environmental responsibility (“Hershey Launches Environmental Initiatives”).

Romano demonstrated on the Convenience Store News that Hershey has made

several steps to protect the environment in its global operations to reduce

emissions, promote nature-based climate projects, and cut package waste, as part

of its initiatives in 2023. Hershey has announced several new targets including

reducing the emission of greenhouse gas by 10%, achieving zero waste to landfill

status at two more plants, recycling 90% of waste, 5% waste reduction, 15% waste

emission, and 17% water reduction (“Hershey's Third CSR Report”). Considering

these various pieces of evidence, Hershey has made significant positive

contributions to the community, demonstrating their dedication to CSR.

Some people believe that Hershey does not demonstrate CSR well because

the company was criticized for using child labor to produce Cocoa without pay.

Manza described on the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review
website that critics have argued that more needs to be done to stem the use of

child labor in the cocoa industry, and Hershey conceded that the company would

need until 2020 to become child labor free. It may be true that Hershey faced

criticism in the past overs its involvement with child labor in cocoa production.

However, it is truly important to recognize the company’s significant efforts in

recent years to address the issue. Hershey has taken several steps to create ethical

resources of Cocoa in recent years, demonstrating their commitment to CSR. The

first effort is improving its supply chain. Beckman described on the Businesswire

website by 2013, nearly twice as much cocoa as Hershey's initial target of 10% for

the year was 18%, which is certified worldwide. Increasing the figure from 40 to 50

percent is the target of Hershey by 2016, working toward its goals of 100% in 2020.

Flood demonstrated on the Supply Chain Dive website that Hershey announced its

goals of achieving full sourcing transparency or its cocoa supply in both Ivory Coast

and Ghana in 2025. In 2025, the company reported that it had achieved 89% of

their goal. With the efforts of supplying the company, Hershey aimed to follow

Hershey Learn To Grow program. Hershey Learn To Grow program will not only

expand across all cocoa growing regions of Ghana and achieve 20,000 new farmers,

but also use Geotraceability, a system that tags and tracks each coco bag through

their whole supply chain, allowing the company to understand have exact origin of

each product and gain detail records on their production process (Beckman). The

second effort is to support farmers. According to the article “Supporting Cocoa

Farmers” in the Confectionary Production news, a new three-year program has been

launched by The Hershey Company to help Cocoa farmers learn in Ivory Coast. In

collaboration with Cargill, there are seven farmers cooperatives that are involved in

the Hershey Learn To Grow program, investment in educational facilities, and

agriculture and social practices, all of which will be assessed and certified under the

UTZ Certificated standard. During the first year of the Hershey Learn To Grow,

proper farming and labor experiences are two main points that workers were taught

by the Hershey company. Some of them made improvements to meet UTZ

standards such as keeping better records and using approved plant protection

products (Beckman). Farmers also learn to recognize how to use GPS technology

through following the program, helping them not only determine the exact size of

their farms for the first time, but also use the right amount of fertilizer and other

farm tools. The farmers then become aware of the old trees by seeing the age of

their trees in GPS, which helps producing the higher products for the customers

(Beckman). Considering the efforts of Hershey to create a sustainable source of

Cocoa by improving its supply chain and assisting farmers, it is clear that the

company does well with its commitment to CSR.

In conclusion, Hershey demonstrates a strong commitment to CSR

through its focus on health and nutrition, community support, and

sustainable cocoa sourcing. Hershey’s initiatives show that business can

have a meaningful impact beyond just profits, balancing both social and

corporate success. However, if companies like Hershey fail to maintain these

efforts, they risk losing their customers’ loyalty and facing increased criticism

because people expect business to act more responsibility. As a result,

Hershey always tries to do their best to provide the high-quality items to

their customers, while still committing to CSR.

Beckman, Jeff. “Hershey to Help Provide Basic Nutrition to 50,000 School Children in

Ghana with New ‘Energize Learning’ Program.” Businesswise, The Hershey

Company, 23 June 2015,

www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150623005260/en/Hershey-to-Help-

Provide-Basic-Nutrition-to-50000-School-Children-in-Ghana-with-New-

Energize-Learning-Program.

Beckman, Jeff. “Hershey Learn to Grow Program Improves Farmer Livelihoods,

Expands Supply of Certified Cocoa.” Businesswire , 6 May 2014,

www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140506005154/en/HERSHEY-LEARN-

TO-GROW-Program-Improves-Farmer-Livelihoods-Expands-Supply-of-

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Fernando, Jason. “What Is CSR? Corporate Social Responsibility Explained.”

Investopedia, Dotdash Meredith, 6 Mar. 2024,

www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility.asp.

Flood, Elizabeth. “Hershey Invests $500m to Improve Cocoa Farming Struggles.”

Supply Chain Dive, 7 Nov. 2024, www.supplychaindive.com/news/hershey-

invests-500m-aimed-improving-cocoa-farming-struggles/730707/?utm.

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Manza, Kathryn. “Making Chocolate Sweeter: How to Encourage Hershey Company

to Clean up Its Supply Chain and Eliminate Child Labor.” Boston College

International and Comparative Law Review, vol. 37, no. 2, Jan. 2014, pp. 389–

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Romano, Danielle. “The Hershey Co. Makes Progress toward Global Sustainability

Goals.” Convenience Store News, Convenience Store News, 6 Oct. 2024,

csnews.com/hershey-co-makes-progress-toward-global-sustainability-goals.

Stobierski, Tim. “What Is Corporate Social Responsibility? 4 Types.” Harvard

Business School Online, Residents & Fellows of Harvard College, 8 Apr. 2021,

online.hbs.edu/blog/post/types-of-corporate-social-responsibility.
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Zapier, 18 Sept. 2024, zapier.com/blog/corporate-social-responsibility-

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Wiener-Bronner, Danielle. “There’s a New Reese’s in Town, Hold the Dairy.” CNN

News, Cable News Network, 7 Mar. 2023,

www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/business/vegan-reeses/index.html.