The Hershey Company will begin a transition to using simple and easy-to-understand ingredients as a way of sharing more information with consumers about its products.

“As consumers, our relationship with food is changing. We spend more time talking and sharing with others about what we eat and why we like certain foods, than we spend actually eating. Food matters and at Hershey, we care deeply about it,” said John Bilbrey, president and CEO of Hershey. “We all want and deserve to know what’s in our food. Hershey takes pride in listening to our consumers and customers and understanding what they need. We will continue to make our great-tasting, high-quality iconic brands that people know and love. We also will share more information about what goes into our products in ways that are easy to understand and access.”

The company said it will focus on three principles:

• Simple ingredients: These would include local milk roasted California almonds, cocoa beans and sugar—ingredients consumers recognize.
• Sharing what’s inside: The company pledges to sharing what goes into making a product from the ingredients used to sourcing, manufacturing and labeling,
• Thoughtful and responsible sourcing of ingredients: Hershey says it will continue to work with suppliers to responsibly source sustainable ingredients, and on its progress against commitments to source 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa and certified sustainable and traceable palm oil.

 This year, the company will introduce new products such as Brookside Dark Chocolate Fruit & Nut Bars, which will feature a lineup of simple ingredients, and transition some of its most popular chocolate brands, including Hershey’s Kisses Milk Chocolates and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars to simpler ingredients.