This 1970s documentary film – originally titled as “The Great American Chocolate Factory” – tells the story of American chocolate giant Hershey. It gives you an in depth look at the Hershey Chocolate Factory and grounds at Hershey, Pennsylvania. It takes you through the entire process of how they make milk chocolate: from harvesting cocoa beans in the tropics through blending together the ingredients to wrapping the finished chocolate bars that we enjoy every day. Some with nuts, some without. The film also talks about how they make Kisses, although they are not mentioned by the name as we know them now. They are just known as drops. The film also covers the science behind how they test and make sure the chocolate is of the consistent high grade that we all know and love and also looks at their distribution system to show how they ensure that we never need to go without their sweet snack. It also includes great footage of the Hershey amusement park. If you are a chocolate lover, this film is for you.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT The Hershey Company, known until April 2005 as the Hershey Foods Corporation and commonly called Hershey's, is an American company and one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world. Its headquarters are in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hershey's Chocolate World. It was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. Hershey's products are sold in over 60 countries worldwide. In addition, Hershey is a member of the World Cocoa Foundation. It is also associated with the Hersheypark Stadium and the Giant Center. The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar, commonly called the Hershey's Bar, is the flagship chocolate bar manufactured by the Hershey Company. It is often referred by Hershey as "The Great American Chocolate Bar." The Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar was first sold in 1900, followed by the Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds variety, which began production in 1908. The Hershey Process milk chocolate used in these bars uses fresh milk delivered directly from local farms. The process was developed by Milton Hershey and produced the first mass-produced chocolate in the United States. As a result, the Hershey flavor is widely recognized in the United States, but less so internationally, especially in areas where European chocolates are more widely available. The process is a company and trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This flavor gives the product a particular sour, "tangy" taste which the US public has come to associate with the taste of chocolate, to the point that other manufacturers often add butyric acid to their milk chocolates. The American bar's taste profile was not as popular with the Canadian public, leading Hershey to introduce a reformulated Canadian bar in 1983. In addition to the standard Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Almonds varieties, Hershey's also produces several other chocolate bars in various flavors: Special Dark chocolate, Cookies 'N' Creme, Symphony (both Milk Chocolate and Almond Toffee), Mr. Goodbar (with peanuts), and Krackel (with crisped rice). There were also nine limited flavors: Double Chocolate, Nut Lovers, Twosomes Reese's Pieces, Cookies 'N' Chocolate, Cookies 'N' Mint, Strawberries 'n' Creme, Raspberries 'n' Creme, Twosomes Heath, and Twosomes Whoppers. All flavors have between 210 and 230 calories per standard-sized bar. The largest Hershey's bar commercially available weighs five pounds (2.3 kg). The Hershey's Kisses is another famous brand of chocolate manufactured by The Hershey Company. The bite-sized pieces of chocolate have a distinctive shape, commonly described as flat-bottomed teardrops. Hershey's Kisses chocolates are wrapped in squares of lightweight aluminum foil with a narrow strip of paper protruding from the top. Though originally made of solely milk chocolate, many variations of the Kisses brand of chocolates and candies have since been introduced. Hershey introduces and discontinues new flavors constantly.
