Have you ever heard the story of Milton Hershey? Prior to visiting there last week, I never knew anything about him and didn’t even know his name. What an amazing visionary and inspiring entrepreneur! He was born in 1857, an only child with divorced parents which was pretty rare for those times. He grew up moving around with his mother quite often, wishing for more stability in his life.
He tried out many different businesses in his younger years including caramels, even selling soap at one point. When he started in chocolate, he wanted to make a version that everyone could afford to eat it, not just the rich. Here, here! He used cheaper beans but cooked them at a much higher temperature. He decided to locate his factory in rural Pennsylvania where he grew up because of the proximity to cows (and their milk) which would keep costs down.
He also wanted to locate the factory in rural location so the workers could lead better quality lives. If they were working in a large city, there could be notoriously horrible living conditions, typical during those times. So why not Chocolate Town, USA?
