Hershey to ‘truly be a snacking company’ with new popcorn brand

Hershey, known for its chocolate confectionery like Hershey’s milk chocolate, Kisses and Reese’s peanut butter cups, has recently started expanding its snack portfolio​​. 

In 2015, it acquired premium jerky brand Krave and snacking chocolate brand barkTHINS​ ​a year later. Last year, it also launched Hershey’s multi-textural snacking product cookie layer crunch​​.

Now, the company is exploring a new category that it says requires looking at things from a different perspective.​

“We knew that if we wanted to truly be a snacking company, we also had to live entrepreneurially, which means not only looking at things through a different lens, but also doing things differently,”​ said Zach Decker, global innovation brand manager at Hershey. 

Better-for-you benefits​

Hershey said its new popcorn has a “chip-like crunch with the better-for-you benefits of popcorn.​

“Popwell delivers flavor with a twist. The half-popped corn texture is new to consumers and is flavored with familiar seasonings: sea salt, white cheddar and chipotle barbecue.”​

The company is aiming Popwell as a better-for-you snack as it contains less than 200 calories per serving, is non-GMO, gluten-free and made from whole grains.

Hershey said the project was "unique," ​the period from conceptualization to market only took 10 months.  

"Popwell is one of the first products to advance via this accelerated model,”​ said senior operations project lead Jackie Burgess.

Growing popcorn market​

Ready-to-eat popcorn has been the fastest growing segment in the US salty snacks market this past year, according to IRI data​​ for the 52 weeks ending June 11, 2017.

The sector grew 9.68% to $1.28bn, compared to the year prior, IRI said.