That was fast.
Earlier this week the CEO of Hershey, Michele Buck told Fortune she wanted to take the company beyond chocolate and turn it into an “innovation snacking powerhouse”. The very next day the legacy chocolatier announced the release of its first new bar in more than two decades — and it doesn’t contain any chocolate.
After 100 years of making chocolate, we struck Gold. Introducing Hershey's Gold bars. Creamy, crunchy, salty, sweet. #tastethegold Dec. 1st. pic.twitter.com/LuGWwyClbF
— HERSHEY'S (@Hersheys) November 1, 2017
The new bar, which was concocted with an eye to Hershey’s sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee, was introduced by eight-time olympic medalist Apolo Ohno on the TODAY Show. He stood in front of a fake ski slope on Rockefeller Plaza, which was constructed to celebrate the countdown to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The Hershey Gold bar is made of caramel, pretzels, and peanuts. Bon Appetit, which got an early taste, said “There were definite peanut-butter notes, almost a brown butter nutty taste, though it wasn’t as chunky in texture as it sounds.” But don’t take their word for it — the new bar will be available to buy on December 1.
In addition to expanding Hershey’s offer internally, Buck told Fortune that she was open to using mergers and acquisitions to achieve her goals for the company. Leading Hershey’s to success may be an uphill battle, but this CEO isn’t wasting any time.