December 14/Hershey, Pa./Business Monitor International Ltd. (BMI) -- Hershey has announced plans for a push into Europe as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the mature U.S. market. Hershey has said it will build on its extensive relationship with U.S. retailer Wal-Mart to push its products into the European market, and as part of this process, Wal-Mart owned Asda will start selling Hershey products on an exclusive basis in the U.K. from 2011. Hershey's revenue growth has underperformed its peers over the last five years, and BMI has consistently said that it needs to do more in countries outside of the U.S., including in emerging markets. However, BMI believes that the firm's inability to take part in the consolidation within the confectionery sector will hinder progress in this direction
Hershey is the market leader in the U.S. but operates in a mature domestic market and has failed to use its size advantages to capitalise on the tremendous growth opportunities in emerging markets. It derives just over 14% of its revenues from outside the U.S., and this lack of international progress has led to stagnating revenues and an underperforming share price since 2005.