Hershey CEO Gets $6.2M, Including Bonus, In 2008

By MARC LEVY

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The chief executive of The Hershey Co. received a more than 40 percent hike in his compensation in 2008, a year when the chocolate maker seemed to shake off a two-year slump but lost the mantle of America's largest candy maker.

David J. West received compensation valued at $6.2 million from Hershey in his first full year as president and CEO after taking over in a late 2007 shake-up prompted by lackluster sales. He also benefited from a reinstatement of his performance bonus after not receiving one in 2007.

West, who was promoted from chief operating officer, poured money into marketing the company's core products, including Hershey chocolate bars, Hershey's Kisses and Reese's, to try to revive sales and recapture lost market share.

The company also weathered a flap after it came out that Hershey was cutting costs by blending cocoa butter substitutes into some of its chocolate candy. In October, the privately held Mars Inc. leapfrogged Hershey as America's largest candy maker with its $23 billion purchase of mint and chewing-gum giant Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.

Hershey remains America's largest chocolatier, and West's strategy of restoring marketing and advertising muscle seemed to be working: Fiscal 2008 sales rose nearly 4 percent from 2007, and the company showed improvements in profit margin and market share.