All Our Products Will Be Made In India
Michelle Buck, the first woman CEO of the $7.5 billion The Hershey Company, is writing her company's India growth story by focusing on value added chocolate products. In an interview with Ajita Shashidhar, Buck talks about the chocolate major's commitment to grow in emerging markets across the world and India in particular. Edited excerpts:
The Hershey Company first entered India through a joint venture with the Godrej Group. How important was that partnership and what did you learn from it?
Our vision is to make The Hershey Company an innovative snacking power house. We have been in the confectionery business for over 125 years as a leader in the US and globally, and we want to continue that growth as well as our portfolio. Our international strategy is important to our overall growth, and within that, India is critically important it is one of our key focus markets. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world right now.
The chocolate category is $1.2 billion in revenue and is growing at 11 per cent (a year). We
