“Our ambition is to double our business by 2030.”
So says Melissa Benner, Commercial Lead Americas at The Hershey Company, speaking to The Moodie Davitt Report Managing Editor Ameesha Raizada at the IAADFS Summit of the Americas in Orlando. Benner is clear about both the scale of the goal and the work required to get there.
“That ambition is going to be sustained through our three-building-block strategy,” she says, setting out a plan focused on execution, product and capability.
The first pillar is about presence in key locations. “We want to win in top airports. We have selected ten airports across the Americas where we will be elevating our execution supported by Shelf Track, an AI-driven auditing tool for airport locations.
“We have quarterly reports for the designated top ten airports, and we also receive detailed insights, such as our share of linear space.
“We have determined SKUs that need to be visible and have KPIs set in conjunction – they are monitored every quarter to enable us to reach our ambition of winning in-store.”
Alongside this sits an overhaul of the product offer. “We are revamping our entire portfolio by the end of 2027. We want to make our products more relevant and appealing for younger generations, and we also want to tap into different segments such as gifting, which is underrepresented for Hershey’s as of today.”
The third pillar is internal as Benner outlines: “We’re strengthening our capabilities, so building our commercial and trade marketing structure. We already hired two headcounts in the USA, and there’s more to come in the next three years.”
Laying the groundwork
This is not simply about growth – it is about catching up in a channel that has not always been prioritised. “Our number one ambition is becoming number one in the USA. You would assume that’s a given, but it’s not, because historically the airport channel has not been our focus within travel retail in America.
“We still need to establish our fundamentals, such as focusing on the right structure, rebuilding and redeveloping our portfolio.”
Benner says the company is strongest in the USA, followed by Brazil and Argentina in terms of current business size.
But future growth is targeted. “Our top ten airports span across different markets, including Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Our trade investments in the past year have grown almost +60%, so we are laser focusing our investment.”
That investment also extends to people on the ground. “In Brazil, last year we hired our point-of-sale manager. So again, building capabilities within people and portfolio.”
From absence to opportunity
The Hershey Company is actively responding to changing shopper behaviour. Benner says, “Experiential retail expectations from shoppers today are not what they were five years ago.”
One of the clearest opportunities is gifting – and Hershey’s current absence from it. “We know it is 46% of travel retail sales, and Hershey’s is basically non-existent in the category.”
New formats are beginning to address this gap and more broadly, the company is shifting towards differentiation. “We want to develop more travel retail-exclusive products. We’re leaning towards creating that differentiation versus domestic. We are tapping into premium gifting occasions too.”
A platform built for scale
All of this sits under the global campaign, ‘Take the Taste With You’. “We wanted to create a unifying, future-ready platform that resonated with different airport environments across the globe,” says Benner.
The campaign focuses on The Hershey Company’s core brands, creating a cohesive, scalable identity that works across markets.
She explains: “We wanted to become more relevant for younger generations through immersive storytelling and a travel-inspired visual identity that engages and connects. The new platform creates memorable moments that stand out in-store and drive conversion.”
Rather than adapting visuals by market, the company flexes through brand choice. “It’s not really changing the visual identity, but more playing on what brand is more relevant in a particular market.
“The portfolio is being redesigned and repackaged to showcase the new visual identity, and it will translate to permanent fixtures in-store. All the merchandising elements also reflect the campaign.”
Early results have been positive. “We had our first activations in Argentina last year, and we saw an uplift of +80% over two months in Buenos Aires.”
The company is also introducing new activation concepts. Benner notes, “We have created an engaging concept called ‘Fly With Us’, featuring immersive and travel-inspired environments with aircraft-style elements like first-class seating and localised destination windows.
“We are also working on digital amplification, retailer social media platforms, and considering trade media partnerships to extend that reach and reinforce brand presence.”
Aligning strategy
Partnerships underpin all this activity. “A strong travel retail partnership is a shared vision focused on the traveller.
“We need to centre on who our shopper is and what their needs are and ensure we are delivering the right portfolio and experiences at the right time, through the right touchpoint.
“We work with joint business plans to ensure we share the same vision and are aligned on ambitions.
“We work across the Trinity – brands with retailers, retailers with airports – and have locally attuned teams that are responsive and market specific.”
There is also a broader brand moment on the horizon for The Hershey Company. “We have a Hershey movie coming out at the end of 2026,” says Benner. “It brings our founder’s story and the values that shaped this company to the big screen in a powerful, emotional way.”
For Benner, the direction is clear. The ambition is bold, but so is the reset required to achieve it. ✈
Footnote: The Moodie Davitt Report is delighted to announce the launch of a breakthrough business-to-consumer (B2C) video series called The TREX Factor, focused entirely on travel retail-exclusive (TREX) products.
Filmed by our acclaimed Shenzhen-based Moodie Davitt STUDIO division, the series will be shown in multi-lingual form (led by but not limited to Chinese and English) on the Moodie Davitt STUDIO YouTube platform with tailored versions on Douyin (抖音), Instagram and links through our dual WeChat platforms.
Click on the YouTube icon above to view the introduction and look out for Episode 1, publishing this week.
