The Hershey Company names Heather Hoytink President, US
The leadership change comes as Hershey continues to expand beyond traditional chocolate into a broader snacking portfolio that includes salty snacks and protein products.
USA – The Hershey Company has announced that consumer packaged goods veteran Heather Hoytink has been appointed as the new President of its US operations.
Officially set to assume the role on July 8, 2026, Hoytink brings more than two decades of commercial leadership, sales, and operational expertise to the Pennsylvania-based snacking giant.
She joins Hershey directly from PepsiCo, where she most recently served as Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for the US Away From Home Beverages division.
As President, US, Hoytink will have end-to-end accountability for Hershey’s US commercial business, leading execution across the company’s full snacking portfolio of confection, salty and protein.
She will advance a ONE Hershey commercial model, bringing a unified approach that delivers greater value to retail partners and consumers alike, while driving growth across away-from-home, omnichannel, digital and other emerging channels.
A central mandate of her appointment will be driving the execution of the “ONE Hershey” commercial model, a strategic, unified business framework designed to streamline operations across confection, salty, and protein divisions to maximize value for retail partners and consumers.
The appointment comes at a critical juncture for the snack manufacturer. Like much of the broader food and beverage industry, Hershey has faced notable macroeconomic headwinds, including surging prices for key agricultural commodities like cocoa, paired with a general pullback in spending by inflation-weary consumers.
Hoytink’s deep background in navigating complex customer relationships and driving margin expansion is expected to heavily reinforce Hershey’s market resilience and accelerate digital, omnichannel, and away-from-home growth strategies.
Hershey’s President and CEO, Kirk Tanner, himself a former long-time PepsiCo executive who took the helm at Hershey last year, expressed strong confidence in Hoytink’s ability to guide the US business forward.
In an official company statement, Tanner highlighted her operating discipline and exceptional track record of executing growth at scale, describing her as uniquely qualified to lead Hershey into its next generation of market expansion.
Hoytink holds a degree in marketing and communications from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and has completed specialized executive education programs at both Harvard Business School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
She succeeds Andrew Archambault, who recently vacated the position to assume an executive role at a separate food and beverage company.
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