Bloomberg has a story about how Hershey Co. is staking much of its future on a product that, uncharacteristically, is not made of chocolate. Because of declining sales linked to health concerns about sugar, Hershey "is betting on the growing appetite for dried meat.
According to the story, "Hershey signaled its shift away from chocolate in early 2015, when it acquired Krave Pure Foods, a maker of premium beef jerky with about $35 million in sales. Krave, based in California’s wine country, put Hershey in the fast-growing meat-snack category and gave the company access to Whole Foods customers. Hershey has said Krave could be a $500 million brand.
"Sales of meat snacks have ballooned in recent years as jerky has shed its image as a salty, overprocessed gas-station staple and been reimagined as a convenient nibble that’s low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Hershey has more than doubled Krave sales and plans to launch a line of meat bars later this year."
According to the story, "Hershey signaled its shift away from chocolate in early 2015, when it acquired Krave Pure Foods, a maker of premium beef jerky with about $35 million in sales. Krave, based in California’s wine country, put Hershey in the fast-growing meat-snack category and gave the company access to Whole Foods customers. Hershey has said Krave could be a $500 million brand.
"Sales of meat snacks have ballooned in recent years as jerky has shed its image as a salty, overprocessed gas-station staple and been reimagined as a convenient nibble that’s low in carbohydrates and high in protein. Hershey has more than doubled Krave sales and plans to launch a line of meat bars later this year."
- KC's View:
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The ultimate rationale for Hershey's movement can be found in a quote from Tony Tyree, VP of Hershey’s global snack business.
“We don’t want to be a Blockbuster, we don’t want to be a Kodak,” he says. “You can’t be focused on the rear view.”
I have no idea if beef jerky will be the answer to potential irrelevance. But it is better than doing nothing.
