Hershey Foods adds products, weighs others

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Hershey Foods executives said the company has new sugar-free products on the way and is exploring making products that fall into snack categories outside the candy, mint and gum businesses.
The executives, including President and Chief Executive Officer Richard H. Lenny, would not reveal much about what the company is planning, saying they wanted to keep such information confidential.
In the first three months of 2003, the company will produce four items "for calorie-conscious and diabetics," said David West, the company's senior vice president for sales.
The company did offer some guidance for 2003, including that it expects nearly 1 percent improvement in gross margins, a 2 percent to 3 percent gain in revenue, and earnings-per-share growth close to 11 percent.
David Kerans of Argus Research said the forecast, while similar to the company's predictions for 2002, is good news for a company that is dependent on the volatile cocoa crop.
"That's actually fairly encouraging for an investor in the company," Kerans said.
The company, in the middle of its most important quarter when holiday candy sales typically are higher, weathered a year in which it endured a six-week strike at two plants and an aborted sale attempt that at first inflated, then deflated, the stock price.