Dive Brief:
- The Hershey Company is looking to procure more energy from renewable and zero-emissions sources to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, especially those generated from scope 1 and 2, according to the chocolate manufacturer’s latest ESG report.
- Hershey said it purchased around 80% of its electricity from green sources in 2023, up from 77% in 2022. The company attributed the increase to investments it had made in solar power purchase agreements and a combination of zero emission and renewable energy credits it had acquired. Among those are its operational PPAs in Texas and North Carolina, which delivered approximately 25% of electricity to its U.S. operations.
- These developments fall in line with Hershey’s goal to source 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and its broader sustainability target of reducing scope 1 and 2 emissions by over 50% and scope 3 emissions by 25% by the end of the decade, compared to a 2018 baseline.
Dive Insight:
The American confectionery company — which houses brands like Reese’s, Jolly Rancher, Skinny Pop Popcorn and its namesake chocolate — said it had decreased the total amount of electricity consumed directly from the grid to 20.2% in 2023 from 23% in 2022. The company also said it had directly sourced hydropower for its Brazil and Canada-based facilities and is expecting the PPA for a Texas-based copperhead solar and storage project to go online later this year.
Hershey said investing in renewable energy is a “key lever” to hitting its scope 1 and scope 2 emission reduction targets. Though the company decreased its scope 1 and scope 2 (market- and location-based) emissions in 2023 by 0.68% and 5.2%, respectively, compared to a 2022 baseline, its scope 3 emissions increased by over 22%.
Scope 3 emissions made up over 96% of the company’s total emissions last year, amounting to 7,264,041 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Purchased goods and services — which may account for raw material extraction to delivery of goods — made up the majority of emissions in this category.
Hershey said it was building on its already 100% independently verified cocoa supply chain by establishing full sourcing visibility for its cocoa volume in both the Ivory Coast and Ghana by 2025. Additionally, the company is developing guidelines aimed at “improving cocoa farmer income and the long-term sustainability of the cocoa sector” in both regions.
This update in policy comes on the heels of the company’s decision to shoot down a shareholder proposal that asked it to pay attention to how it pays cocoa farmers.
The proposal, filed by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, asked Hershey’s board to commission a third-party assessment that produced recommendations for achieving a living income for cocoa farmers in the company’s West African supply chain. The group requested this assessment include input from stakeholders such as cocoa farmers, suppliers and civil society organizations.
However, Hershey’s board voted against the wage-equity proposal during the company’s May 6 annual meeting.
