After seeing German-made chocolate-processing machinery at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Hershey decided to go into the chocolate business. He bought the equipment for his Lancaster plant and soon began producing a variety of chocolate creations.
Milton Hershey had learned, during his travels in Denver, Colorado, how to use fresh milk to make caramels—a unique strategy he later employed at his Lancaster Caramel Company. He also wanted to use this technique for his milk chocolate.
In 1894, Milton started the Hershey Chocolate Company and produced Hershey chocolate caramels, breakfast cocoa, sweet chocolate, and baking chocolate.
Hershey sold the Lancaster Caramel Co. for $1 million in 1900 in order to concentrate exclusively on his chocolate business. In 1900, the company began producing milk chocolate in bars, wafers and other shapes. With mass production, Hershey was able to lower the per-unit cost and make milk chocolate, once a luxury item for the wealthy, affordable to all.
Business was so successful that in 1903 Hershey started work on a new factory in Derry Township, Pennsylvania.
In 1907, Hershey begins manufacturing Hershey's Chocolate Kisses. In 2015, Hershey's overhauled its recipe to reduce the amount of genetically modified ingredients in its chocolate.
History of Hershey candies
