Is Hershey's ethical and cruelty-free?
Mixed — Hershey's clears 1 of 4 ethics signals and fails 2, so it depends which issue matters most to you.
Hershey's, a leading global confectionery brand under The Hershey Company, has made progress in sustainable sourcing and cocoa certification but faces ongoing scrutiny over labor practices in its supply chain, with no major recent controversies on record.
The evidence, signal by signal
Cruelty-freeverified
No animal testing on finished products except where required by law (e.g., China); no formal policy for supply chain.
Vegan optionsunverified
Limited; a few dark chocolate varieties are accidentally vegan but not labeled; no dedicated vegan line.
Sells in mainland Chinaflagged
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
Third-party certifiedflagged
No independent certifications recorded on the products we track.
Public pledges: 100% certified sustainable cocoa by 2025; net-zero emissions by 2050; 100% recyclable packaging by 2030.
Scored with our public methodology. Profile last updated 2026-10-14.
More on Hershey's
Is Hershey's ethical? FAQs
Is Hershey's cruelty-free?+
No animal testing on finished products except where required by law (e.g., China); no formal policy for supply chain.
Does Hershey's have vegan products?+
Limited; a few dark chocolate varieties are accidentally vegan but not labeled; no dedicated vegan line.
Does Hershey's sell in mainland China?+
Selling through mainland Chinese retail has historically triggered post-market animal testing.
What is Hershey's's ethics score?+
Hershey's averages —/100 across 0 products we score on certifications, sourcing, labour, packaging and transparency.
What are the best alternatives to Hershey's?+
See our full list of ethical alternatives to Hershey's for better-scoring options in the same categories.