September 5, 2025
At The ÉîÒ¹¸£ÀûÉç Company, we believe in creating more moments of goodness with our brands, starting with a deep understanding of where they matter most to consumers. Every summer, families across the U.S. gather around the campfire with our iconic HERSHEY’S bars at the heart of their s’mores traditions.
These shared experiences inspire us year after year. For us, S’mores season is more than a ritual. It is an opportunity to turn consumer insights into growth – refreshing a nostalgic tradition, sparking joy, and strengthening connections with our retail partners.
That’s exactly what we did this summer with the launch of the HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate with Caramel bar, showing how innovation can keep traditions fresh and bring more shoppers to the confection aisle at the moments that matter most. But innovation is only as impactful as the strategy behind it. To understand how caramel cracked the code, you have to start with the role seasonal occasions play in HERSHEY’S growth.
Hitting the Sweet Spot of Seasonal Growth
Seasonal wins start with a simple formula: listen to consumers, uncover what excites them, and show up when it matters. These moments fuel growth and keep us relevant, with nearly a quarter of HERSHEY’S sales tied to seasonal occasions.
These wins are more than bursts of sales. They are traditions that return year after year, giving us the chance to stay ahead of consumer expectations while helping retailers build momentum across the calendar. By leaning into cultural moments and celebrating how people gather and create memories, we deliver products that feel timely, meaningful, and relevant.
That’s what inspired the HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate with Caramel bar. With s’mores season representing a $200 to $250 million opportunity fueled by consumer passion and retailer excitement, we saw the chance to put a fresh twist on a classic, sparking summer snacking and reinforcing HERSHEY’S ability to fuel growth across seasonal moments all year long.
Finding S’more Reasons to Love HERSHEY’S at the Campfire
The spark behind our best innovations begins with a flavor insight. It guides us, grounds us, and ensures we deliver what consumers truly want. For s’mores, that insight was clear: caramel ranks as the third most popular addition, making it a natural choice for families seeking a summertime indulgence. With that spark, HERSHEY’S set out to create a first-of-its-kind innovation that captured the spirit of summer, elevated the s’mores ritual, and delivered exactly what shoppers were looking for.
But flavor alone wasn’t enough. We needed to understand how our bars fit into this beloved tradition. That’s when we narrowed in on our audience central to the ritual: parents and grandparents. They are the ones passing down the magic of s’mores, ensuring the tradition lives on across generations. Our Consumer Insights team found that 52% of people made s’mores in the past year, and nearly half planned to make even more this summer. Families aren’t just keeping the custom alive. They are expanding it.
We also heard families were experimenting, adding caramel or peanut butter for an extra layer of delight. Instead of reinventing the ritual, we leaned into what they were already doing and designed a bar to make those moments easier, more exciting, and more fun.
The result was a new bar made for the occasion: perfectly sized for graham crackers, satisfying yet familiar, and easy to share. From the start, we knew it wouldn’t just land on shelves. It would win in the aisle.
When Consumer-First Products Meet Smart Merchandising, Sales Break Records
When we see a bar drive category growth, we know we’ve perfected the product.
The HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate with Caramel bar delivered the best sell-through of any HERSHEY’S s’mores innovation in brand history, selling out by July 4 at most major retailers. According to Circana, the 2025 s’mores program as a whole generated 9.28% dollar growth versus 2024 across MULO+C. The Caramel 6-packs alone drove $11.3 million during the promotional window and nearly $14 million year-to-date, while core Milk Chocolate SKUs surged with 61% unit growth after the holiday. Momentum was clear across partners, with Walmart sales up 18%, Target climbing 38%, and Kroger growing 10%.
Behind these numbers was smart execution that made it easy for families to discover and buy. Seasonal displays featured custom s’mores graphics on 4- and 6-pack SKUs. Multiple merchandising waves kept momentum high from May through July. Optimized product detail pages and digital shopper marketing ensured strong visibility online. National and retailer-specific activations built alignment with Walmart, Target, Kroger, and more, fueling performance across the aisle and helping s’mores season reach new heights.
Looking ahead to 2026, HERSHEY’S is already anticipating a strong second season on shelves. The success of HERSHEY’S Milk Chocolate with Caramel bar proves that when brands tap into cultural relevance and consumer insights, they can create moments of joy year-round while driving meaningful success for retailers.