Hershey’s Chocolates Warns Of Halloween, Christmas Candy Shortage

American candy-maker The Hershey Company warned on Thursday that it would fail to have enough candy come Halloween and Christmas time due to a variety of supply-chain issues and labor shortages plaguing the industry.

Hershey Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck told Reuters that the coming shortage will be caused in part by the Russian-Ukraine war impacting cocoa, edible oil, and other ingredients, while other issues stemming from the economic disruption during COVID are also to blame.

Still, Hershey’s said that sales for 2022 will top last year, despite not being able to meet demand during the busy holiday season. A recent analysis found that Hershey’s raised the prices of its various bars by a weighted average of 14%.

“Management says that the incremental pricing is in response to incremental cost pressure as some hedge expirations approach,” Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English explained. “While higher pricing on higher costs is not unique to the company, we believe Hershey is enacting the increases to preserve its growth algorithm which contrasts meaningfully with center-of-plate food companies who are raising prices to minimize earnings declines.” – READ MORE