HERSHEY, Pa. --Hershey Foods Corp., the nation's largest candymaker, became The Hershey Co. on Tuesday, and the company unveiled a new logo that mimics the wrapping on its well-known Hershey's chocolate bar, reported the Associated Press.
Shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the name change as the company undertakes a corporate makeover that also includes ventures into cookies, health bars and big-city retail stores.
"The name of the company has now been changed," the company's chairman, CEO and president, Richard H. Lenny, [image-nocss] declared after reading the vote tally to 1,500 shareholders gathered in an arena near company headquarters. "Welcome to The Hershey Co."
The company, which makes such brands as Reese's, Almond Joy, Mounds and Kit Kat, also received approval to double the number of shares it may make available to more than one billion. Lenny said the company has no plans to issue new shares, but wants the flexibility to finance future, unspecified growth.
In recent years, the company has shed coffee, pasta and frozen foods businesses and instead concentrated on new versions of its brands, such as Hershey's Kisses, and the introduction of new products such as cookies, sugar-free candy and low-carb bars.
Flags and signs outside the company's Hershey headquarters and chocolate factories were changed immediately following the shareholder vote.
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