Hi Everyone, my name is Sherry Christian and I'm a "chocoholic".
There -- I admit it. I begin my blog this way to let you know that personally I love Hershey chocolate! I crave the "Take 5" and I never miss the opportunity to enjoy a smooth, creamy mug of hot chocolate at Hersheypark!
And until now -- I never really thought about where these scrumptious goodies come from. I mean why should I? I live in Central Pennsylvania home of the world's largest candymaker -- Hershey.
But, recently there's been action taken that could make Hershey chocolate fans falter. Jobs are being cut, plants are closing and some of those jobs and production lines are being moved to plants in Mexico.
Outsourcing -- it's an integral part of our global economy, and The Hershey Company has been doing it for decades. But the sticking point among consumers and employees seems to be that jobs in Mexico will exist -- while jobs right here in our country, in our town - won't.
See my entire special report "The Future of Hershey."
What I wasn't able to include in my report because of time restrictions is the shake-up in the Hershey Company board.
All three of the people interviewed in my report say the problem began with CEO Richard Lenny. Bill Price says Milton Hershey used to walk the factory floors of the plants and would talk to workers. He would hire people who came up "thru the ranks" and even were graduates of the school as CEO and COO, etc. Lenny was the first CEO to not be an "insider" and Calvin Smith with the local union says he never saw Lenny come into the factory and walk the floor like Mr. Hershey did. The big complaint was that a "bunch of outsiders" were running the company and not living up to Milton Hershey's legacy.
Here are some of the responses I received to my report:
A very good article but a few points where missed , one being Kirk Saville`s comments about 90% of Hershey's products will continue to be made in Canada and America. I find this comment ironic since Hershey is closing all their manufacturing plants within Canada and being a twenty year employee I feel the pinch as do many others. Hershey's problems stem from mismanagement by Rick Lenny and his clan, before this group came along Hershey was reporting record profits almost every quarter, lets face it Lenny wanted to run this company as if it was his own with no care or concern for the future of its long standing employees.... Hershey has had plants in other countries from the beginning , supplying these countries is one thing but to close profitable factories and terminate 3000 plus employees just to give their jobs to the Mexican economy is quite another and Hershey will not cease operations on this Mexican plant because they have made a deal with Barry Caliboue which is erecting a new facility very close to Hershey's Monterrey plant and will be supplying Hershey with its base chocolate.... In my opinion this is the biggest blunder this company has ever made and I believe it will be their downfall. Hershey continually states their decrease in sales is due to higher milk prices, another ironic comment by Mr. Saville , since M&M Mars , Nestle , Cadbury and many other chocolate produces are stating at least 10% higher earning while Hershey loses 96%, I guess these other companies must be using cheaper cows for milk. I would not believe anything this new bunch at Hershey says because they all seem to have gone to the same school to learn how to lie. Hershey has spent too much money hiring incompetent management and has not spent enough on their infrastructure , its that simple. And now all of us employees have to pay for the mistakes of people like Rick Lenny while he retires a multi millionaire.......Sickening
Hershey's has had a tough year financially. They had experienced much success prior to this year primarily by introducing a number of limited edition items, but they failed to support their core brands at the same time. The limited edition chapter has come to a close and now they are struggling to get their core brands back into the forefront. In the meantime their competitors (primarily Mars) have left them in the dust. This is partly why Hershey's CEO Rich Lenny has been asked to leave--there's a lot of pressure to make money and regain share right now in Chocolate Town. Moving some operations to Mexico may be an unpopular, but necessary thing to do.
Dear Ms. Christian,
Last evening my husband and I watched your report on Hershey Chocolate Company and the controversial move to make some of their products in Mexico. On the whole, We found your report to be most informative with bits of information that many of us in the general public were not aware of. However, we became offended in the terminology of "needy children" when speaking of the students at the school Mr. Hershey started.
You see, we are the parents of three children who attended that school. These children come mostly from single parent households, who are at or below the poverty level. The have faced enough tragedy and problems in their lives, but to term them needy on a news broadcast in the area at which they now reside is to stigmatize them even more.
We believe you owe them, the school and the parents an apology. Perhaps you should do an in depth study on the school and educate yourself on the subject.
We found the use of that term totally irresponsible journalism.
Sincerely,
Brenda & David Loechner
Here's my response to the Loechners:
My sincerest apology Brenda and David,
Offending you was of course not my intention with the use of the word "needy". I actually spoke to several employees of the Milton Hershey School -- some of them houseparents and they all said the Hershey Industrial School was for orphan boys and now it's for "needy" children. As the parent of a "special needs" child (my daughter has autism), I am always trying to be sensitive to terms and labels that society places on people. I obviously failed in my report last night.
I am going to blog about my report and include in my blog my apologies to anyone else who may have been offended by the term.
I thank you for your response -- for without it -- I would not have learned from my mistake.
Thanks for watching and I hope you continue to despite my blunder.
Sherry Christian
I welcome more comments about my report -- positive and negative.
I leave you with this interesting quote by Milton Hershey.
While researching my story at the Hershey Archives Community I found this story that increases my respect for Mr. Hershey.
In July of 1936, landscaping was being done on Pat's Hill. Mr. Hershey one day watched two huge steam shovels tearing the earth apart. "These machines," said the foreman, "do the work of forty men." "Take them off," said Mr. Hershey, "Hire forty men."
...And the world tastes good cause the candy man thinks it should....
