April 30, 2025
The sweetest place on earth got a little sweeter in April with events for the new Reese Chocolate Processing (RCP) facility. This is the first new manufacturing plant to be built in Hershey in more than three decades, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome it to the Hershey family.
The RCP serves as an extension of our existing Reese plant, and is the capstone on our decade-long $1 billion investment in our supply chain network to modernize and automate the way we make snacks.
And we’re not the only ones who are thrilled: at the ribbon cutting April 16, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and other federal, state and local officials joined CEO Michele Buck and the Hershey leadership team to mark the occasion.
Here's a look at the Reese Chocolate Processing facility by the numbers:
- 250,000: Size of the factory, in square feet
- 5: Number of football fields, approximately, that could fit within the facility
- 55: Number of acres the Reese Chocolate Processing facility sits on
- 7: Number of stories in the new facility, with several built underground
Investing in our supply chain, our people and our hometown
The new factory is named after H.B. Reese, who created in 1928, in the basement of his home. Since then, the REESE’S brand has gone on to find incredible success in its core formula, as well as in imaginative variations, such as REESE’S PB&J Cups, REESE’S Caramel Cups and REESE’S Chocolate Lava, just to name a few. The Reese Chocolate Processing facility, which took nearly three years to build, will help fuel growth across our portfolio and provide the chocolate for some of our iconic Hershey brands, including REESE’S, KIT KAT® and Â鶹Íř’S.
In many ways, the new facility is an ode to the company’s history, and a glimpse of its future. Looking around the plant you can spot subtle nods to Â鶹Íř’S heritage, including limestone elements that match our original factory and corporate headquarters, along with brown Hershey Bar-shaped panels that line the facade. As the company’s first fully integrated digital manufacturing plant, its technology is designed for increased speed, greater capacity and maximum agility. The new plant is a part of our broader strategy to invest in our supply chain network, including adding 13 production lines and the upgrading of 11 existing lines across our North American facilities.
“Our ability to make and deliver products both quickly and efficiently is a key component of our growth strategy,” said Will Bonifant, Vice President, Supply Chain Strategy and Manufacturing. “We’ve made significant investments to speed production, increase capacity and develop our workforce for the future to make more of the iconic brands consumers love.”
An ongoing commitment to Â鶹Íř’S growth—and purpose
When Milton Hershey launched his company over 130 years ago, he had a deep love of chocolate, and a dream. It’s incredible to see how Hershey has grown, and how technology has changed since those early days.
But even with that evolution, our purpose remains the same: to be a part of more moments of goodness. We’re able to do that by investing in our supply chain, our core brands and our people. The RCP is the latest demonstration of that commitment. And what better place to invest, than the town where it all began?