The Moment That Changed Everything
Before he was famous for chocolate, Milton Hershey was a successful caramel manufacturer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Then, one trip changed his path.
At the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he saw chocolate-making machinery that stopped him in his tracks. He bought the machinery on the spot.
He returned home with a new idea and the determination to prove it. In his Lancaster Caramel factory, he began experimenting with chocolate. Curiosity turned into conviction. He experimented with fresh milk and pushed the limits of the machinery he had purchased at the Fair.
Step inside the early chocolate-making process and see how it evolved over time.
Hershey’s First Products
Before Milton Hershey developed his milk chocolate formula, his company made more than 100 kinds of vanilla sweet chocolate novelty products: anything he could wrap, box, and sell.
At the time, milk chocolate was a luxury imported from Europe. Milton Hershey found a way to make it more affordable. Once he did, he discontinued all of his vanilla sweet novelties to focus on chocolate. As The Hershey Company expanded, so did the ways Americans experienced chocolate.
A Legacy Built to Last
The Hershey Company’s success has always carried a larger purpose. Milton Hershey placed much of his wealth into a trust that continues to fund Milton Hershey School. Profits from the snacking business support the School’s mission and sustain the surrounding community.
Chocolate built a business. Now that business sustains Hershey’s greatest legacy.
