Hershey launches holiday Kisses, chocolate bars with simpler ingredients

HERSHEY, Pa. — This week, Hershey announced that it would be rolling out its holiday-themed Kisses and chocolate bars with a twist this year. The chocolate in this year’s holiday products will be made with no artificial flavors and simpler ingredients, in line with a commitment to doing so that the company made earlier this year. 

 

“We started making our great-tasting chocolate in 1894 with ingredients you might find in your pantry, like cocoa, milk, sugar and vanilla, and we’re continuing that tradition today,” Hershey’s VP and general manager of U.S. confection, Mary-Ann Somers, said. “People want to see ingredients that they know and are familiar with in their foods and we’re listening. Our commitments to simple ingredients and transparency continue with some of our most popular products, Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars.”

 

The simple ingredients include fresh milk from farms in Pennsylvania, responsibly sourced cocoa beans and pure cane sugar, as well as natural flavor, the company said. 

 

The products will also pilot the company’s new SmartLabel QR code, which allows shoppers to find out more about the products — information about their ingredients and what goes into making them — online by scanning a code on the package.

 

“There is a growing expectation for companies to provide more transparency about all that goes into their products and we’re at the forefront, piloting the SmartLabel this holiday season,” Somers said.