Incredible and inspiring, the story of Hershey’s is not too disimilar from his British counterpart, Cadbury. It begins with the tale of one determined pioneer: Milton S. Hershey, who was raised in rural central Pennsylvania. Hershey would not only become known for the delicious milk chocolate bar, which epitomises American sweets but for his philanthropy and open-hearted generosity which still touches the lives of thousands.
The captivating story of Hershey’s spans nearly a century and a half of industrial and social change. It was in the year 1894 that American sweets’ manufacturer Milton Hershey made the decision to try adding chocolate coating to his caramels. Calling this new enterprise the Hershey Chocolate Company, he located it near the area he had been born, amongst the rolling farmland of Derry Township, PA. By the summer of 1905, with the milk from nearby dairy farms and the spirit of hard-working local people, his new factory started turning out delicious milk chocolate.
Much like Cadbury in England, Hershey was a dedicated philanthropist and not just an American sweets’ manufacturteer. For the farm boy who never had much of a chance at education, providing that opportunity for others was always an important priority. As early as 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Hershey Industrial School, a school for orphan boys we know today as the Milton Hershey School. In 1918 and with no fanfare, Hershey transferred the bulk of his considerable wealth, including ownership in the Hershey Chocolate Company, to the Hershey Industrial School.
Kenny’s Candy Company started in 1987, nearly 100 years after Hershey,’s with only a few flavoured twists – red, black and chocolate. By 1996, Kenny’s Candy had expanded to add the Juicy Twists line. Currently, Kenny’s offers 13 different Juicy Twist flavors! Wiley Wallaby Australian Style Gourmet Liquorice was added in 2007 to the product line.
Hubba Bubba is a brand of bubble gum originally produced by the Wrigley Jr. Company, a subsidiary of Mars, incorporated in the USA. They first produced the gum in 1979 but more recently produced in countries around the world. The bubble gum got its name by the phrase “Hubba Hubba” that World War II soldiers used to express their approval.The first portions of these American sweets were produced in the traditional bubble gum flavour often referred to as Original, but different flavours of gum have been produced around the world. Many, but not all, of these flavours are based on fruit. Hubba Bubba products also include many flavors of soda, bubble gum and squeeze pouches.
The Mars conglomerate is now one of the top brand producing concerns in the USA and indeed the world, producing many of the American Sweets, which we see in our newsagents, such as M and Ms, Skittles, Mars Bars, Bounty, Milky Way, Maltesers, Revels, Galaxy, Twix and Tracker. They also produce gums such as Extra, Starburst, Orbit and Freedent.
Its safe to say without the hard work of the Mars corporation we would not be able to enjoy American sweets as we do in the UK. Candy is a must have for the sweet toothed Brit!