Hershey Strengthens Supply Chain Resiliency With Manufacturing Acquisitions
The Hershey Company is investing in supply chain resiliency through its latest acquisition of two manufacturing plants from Weaver Popcorn.
The co-manufacturer of Hershey’s Skinny Pop brand will help the company strengthen its supply chain capabilities, building out its network of suppliers and manufacturers.
As part of the acquisition of these two plants, located in Pennsylvania and Indiana, Hershey expects to elevate its supply chain flexibility, agility, and resiliency. It will be tapping into the efforts of the 90-year-old Weaver business, which touts “a strong manufacturing heritage.”
Jason Reiman, chief supply chain officer at The Hershey Company, said the brand continues to make significant investments in the size, scale, and capabilities of its network, with resiliency and improved supplier relationships at the forefront.
"Our acquisition of Weaver's two facilities is a perfect example of how we're investing to bring added capacity and strength across our portfolio of brands well into the future," said Reiman.
Jason Kashman, CEO of Weaver Popcorn, said Hershey’s acquisition will “enable continued growth in volume and quality, with teams at each location that have an unrivaled expertise."
Over the past couple of years, the company has had its eyes on growing manufacturing capacity. In November of 2021, for example, the company acquired Pretzels, Inc., a co-manufacturer for Dot’s Pretzels, to expand its salty snacks manufacturing. The investment added three manufacturing locations to Hershey’s toolbelt, helping the company expand its product capabilities and support future innovation and growth.
According to McKinsey, CG companies are building resilience into their supply chain strategies by cutting portfolio complexity, increasing the availability of high-volume items, and introducing increased supply chain flexibility.
Recent investments across the consumer goods space include Serta Simmons’ implementation of SaaS tech to optimize its manufacturing efficiency by adding integrated demand and supply planning solutions to its existing advanced planning systems. Digitization has also been key to building resiliency across brands. Earlier this year, Colgate-Palmolive developed an analytics catalyst team to fuel the advancement of supply chain analytics.
