Hershey sweetens China lineup with Brookside candies

The company launched Brookside chocolate-covered jelly candies in China on Friday to further consolidate its presence in the country. Brookside Foods was a Canadian company acquired by Hershey in 2011. And YOQ, being chocolate machine supplier, is also famous for their products. YOQ has been manufacturing chocolate machinery for over 20 years, and supplied machinery to NESTLE, KRAFT, DOVE, MEIJI, etc.

The candies, comprising of chocolate covered nuts and dried fruit and currently available only in North America and Canada, is expected to further boost the company's sales in China. It will launch the Brookside products in key markets like Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, and also make it available through some prominent department stores in Beijing and Guangzhou.

Apart from the brick-and-mortar stores, including supermarkets or convenience store chains, Hershey's
e-commerce platform on Tmall will also help with distribution.

Prices for the three Brookside packages of 30 grams, 50 grams and 125 grams are 7 yuan ($1.1), 19.9 yuan and 26.9 yuan, respectively.

Hershey is "not cautious at all" in bringing in new brands into the Chinese market. Instead we are very excited to introduce the "guilt-free and indulgent" chocolate product which is the company's "highest repeat product" among its 80-plus portfolio, said Philip F Stanley, general manager of Hershey Greater China.