Milton S. Hershey was raised in Milton S. Hershey was raised in rural central Pennsylvania.rural central Pennsylvania.

At the age of 18, Milton At the age of 18, Milton established his first candy established his first candy business in Philadelphia. business in Philadelphia.

After his first candy business After his first candy business failed, Hershey followed his failed, Hershey followed his father to Denver where he took father to Denver where he took a job with a candy maker and a job with a candy maker and learned the secret of making learned the secret of making caramels with fresh milk. caramels with fresh milk. Milton returned to Lancaster Milton returned to Lancaster Pennsylvania and once again Pennsylvania and once again tried making a go of the tried making a go of the caramel business.caramel business.

•Hershey began looking for a new place to start his new company. Pennsylvania provided easy access to nearby port cities in which provide cocoa beans and sugar were shipped.

Finally success!!! Lancaster Finally success!!! Lancaster Caramel Company was shipping all Caramel Company was shipping all over the U.S. and Europe, employing over the U.S. and Europe, employing 1,400 people and turning him into 1,400 people and turning him into one of the area’s leading citizens.one of the area’s leading citizens.

•However Milton did not have enough capital invested into the business to keep it running.

•Hershey sold his Lancaster Caramel Company for 1 billion dollars to better focus his attention on making chocolate candies.

Cocoa trees are found in jungles from differentcountries.

Beans are removed from pods and placed into piles to become fermented.

After beans dry out, they are transported to chocolate factory.

Railroad cars carry Cocoabeans from the dock to the chocolate factory where they are cleaned and stored.

Beans are stored by countryof origin until they are blended.

Beans are roasted in large,revolving roasters at high temperatures.

A special hulling machinetakes the beans and separates shell from the inside of the bean.

The nibs are groundinto chocolate liquor.

Pasteurized milk is tested and mixed with sugar.

The milk-sugar mixer is dried untilturns into a thick taffy-like material.

The new mixture is dried into a brown powder called chocolate crumb.

The chocolate liquor is combined withmilk and sugar.

The chocolate crumb powderis added to cocoa butter.

The crumb travels through a steel roller to make it smoother.

The new paste is poured into vats where large granite rollers smoothout the gritty particles from the crumb.

The paste is cooled to the right texture and consistency.

Hershey chocolate bars are placed into molds.

The filled moulds are shakento remove air bubbles.

The moulds are chilled into a solid candy bar or a Hershey Kiss.

A special machine drops a preciseamount of chocolate onto a movingsteel belt.

http://www.hersheys.com/discover/tour_video.asp

How long should I keep chocolate? Most confectionery products are at their best flavor for one year after manufacture. Ingredients such as nuts will shorten the shelf life. Products kept beyond recommended "best before" date may have flavor loss or texture changes. Keep in mind that storage conditions greatly affect the quality of our products.

How should I store chocolate?Solid chocolate products will maintain their quality if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place (55-60°F). While refrigerated chocolate is certainly safe to use, it isn’t recommended. Chocolate kept in the refrigerator may "sweat" when brought to room temperature and may not melt properly.

Which stores carry Hershey products?A computerized distribution system makes sure that fresh products arrive at retail outlets across the country. Hershey's product line is available to all distributors and retailers. Retailers and distributors determine which items they stock based on consumer demand. Asking local store managers to stock a particular product often helps to expand the selection of our products on store shelves.