Hershey Foods

Building on Milton Hershey’s legacy of commitment
to consumers, community and children...

Corporate
soCial
responsibility
report 2009

...we provide high-quality Hershey products...

T he hershey Company CorporaTe soCial responsibiliTy reporT 2009

...while conducting our business in a socially responsible
and environmentally sustainable manner.

T he hershey Company CorporaTesoCial responsibiliTy reporT 2009

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profile &
strategy

14

3

CEO‘s Message
to Stakeholders

4

About The Hershey
Company

7

Our Heritage

9

Our Mission and Values

10

Our CSR Strategy

12

Stakeholder Engagement

13

Corporate Governance

MarketplaCe

25

environMent

16

Product Quality
and Safety

26

Conserving Energy
and ReducingEmissions

18

Responsible Sourcing

28

20

Addressing the
Challenges in
Cocoa Sourcing

Conserving Natural
Resources

30

Monitoring Sustainability
Across the Supply Chain

22

Promoting Responsible
Consumption

23

Marketing with Integrity

24

Looking Ahead

33

WorkplaCe

42

CoMMunity

36

Employee Engagement

45

37

Employee Well-BeingContributing to
Communities

39

Training and Development

47

40

Diversity and Inclusion

Volunteerism: Hershey
Employees Making
a Difference

41

Looking Ahead

48

Looking Ahead

30

Preserving Biodiversity

31

Continuous Improvement
Case Studies

49

More info

32

Looking Ahead

49

Awards

50

Alliances

53

Learn More about Hershey

54GRI Content Index

“One is only happy in proportion as he makes
others feel happy, and only as useful
as he contributes his influences for the finer
callings in life”
—Milton S. Hershey (1857–1945)

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T he h ershey Company CorporaT e s o C ial r esponsibili T y repor T 2 009

Welcome to
the Hershey Company’s
first Corporate
Social responsibility
report

This report describesour performance on key economic, social, and
environmental issues—our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Unless otherwise noted, it covers the 2009 calendar year, which is
also our fiscal year, and the operations of The Hershey Company,
including Hershey’s wholly owned and joint-venture operations.
We applied the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines indeveloping the report and are self
declaring a GRI application level of “C.” We have included a GRI
index on page 54.
We understand that achieving progress in social responsibility
requires commitment and accountability, driven by continuous
company improvement. As this is our first reporting effort, we
have not reported on some GRI indicators because we do not
currently track the neededinformation. In other instances, we
are not reporting on indicators because we believe the information is either proprietary or not material to our industry and
operations. Through this report and the development of a CSR
strategy, we are seeking to better understand issues of concern
to our company and our stakeholders and to improve both our
performance and future reporting.
We plan to issuea full report every two years and to provide
an annual update on the development of our strategy and our
performance with regard to our goals.
Your feedback is important, please take this brief survey to let us
know how we are doing. In addition, you may contact us with
specific comments or questions.

> You can find additional information about
CSR at The Hershey Company at:www.thehersheycompany.com/social-responsibility

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T he h ershey Company CorporaT e s o C ial r esponsibili T y repor T 2 009
/ C ontentS

/ Profile/Strategy

/ Market P la C e

/ e nviron M ent

/ Work P la C e

/ Co MM unity

/ l earn M ore

Dear Hershey Stakeholders:
On behalf of Hershey employees, I am pleased to introduce our
company’s first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)...