This article was in our daily paper this morning:
Hershey sweetens candy lines
Tuesday, August 16, 2005 BY APARNA KUMAR
Of The Patriot-News
Taking another bite out of the market for premium chocolates, The Hershey Co. said yesterday that it has acquired San Francisco chocolatier Joseph Schmidt Confections Inc.
Known for its fancy, egg-shaped truffles and handcrafted chocolate gifts, Joseph Schmidt is the second maker of premium chocolate that Hershey has cherry-picked in the San Francisco Bay area in less than a month.
Hershey also said it has completed its acquisition of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker Inc., a dark-chocolate producer based in Berkeley, Calif.
The two brands will be marketed by a Hershey-owned subsidiary called Artisan Confections Co.
The new subsidiary will be "a smaller, more entrepreneurial entity" that allows the new brands to take advantage of Hershey's resources while maintaining their distinct, premium identities, Hershey spokeswoman Stephanie Moritz said.
The Joseph Schmidt and Scharffen Berger brand names will remain on the products, which also will bear the new stamp of Artisan Confections. The companies also will use their signature recipes and retain their California production facilities, Moritz said.
Moritz said Hershey would not disclose how much it paid for each company.
In a prepared statement, the company said the combined purchase price for Scharffen Berger and Joseph Schmidt will be between $46.6 million and $61.1 million.
The final purchase price will depend on how much the brands generate in sales through 2007.
Together, the two companies have annual sales of nearly $25 million, according to Hershey, which reported annual revenue of $4.43 billion in 2004.
Joseph Schmidt Confections has stores in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., and its truffles and other chocolate desserts are sold in department and specialty stores.