The Appointment
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) has named Amanda Almond President, International, effective Oct. 12, tapping a veteran of Bacardi and global wine group Vinarchy to lead the confectionery giant's operations across approximately 65 countries. Almond succeeds Rohit Grover, who spent 27 years at Hershey — eight of them as international president — and is departing the $11.7 billion snacks company.
Almond's Background
Almond arrives with more than three decades of international consumer goods and retail experience. Most recently, she served as regional managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Vinarchy, a Bain Capital-backed global wine company, where she held responsibility across 57 markets. Before Vinarchy, she spent 12 years at Bacardi in progressively senior regional leadership roles. She holds a bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Edinburgh and has completed advanced studies at the University of Oxford and Harvard Business School. She will be based in Hershey's U.K. office.
Strategic Context
The leadership change arrives as Hershey works to accelerate growth outside North America, where its portfolio — spanning Reese's, Kit Kat, SkinnyPop, and the ONE Brands protein line — competes in a crowded global confection and snacking market against entrenched multinationals including Mondelēz and Nestlé. Hershey's international segment has historically represented a smaller share of total revenues compared with domestic operations, making the incoming president's track record in market-building particularly relevant. Almond's appointment signals a strategic emphasis on scaling branded presence in regions where category penetration remains relatively low.
Kirk Tanner, president and CEO of The Hershey Company, pointed to Almond's history of scaling businesses across geographies. "She has a track record of scaling and growing businesses, bringing teams together and building high-performance cultures, and she brings the experience and energy to accelerate our international growth," Tanner said. He also acknowledged Grover's contribution: "He has helped build our international markets to succeed in our next generation of growth."
Almond will work alongside Hershey's International Leadership Team during the transition period. For operators, retailers, and foodservice partners in international markets, the change in leadership may signal a more aggressive posture on distribution expansion and brand investment — consistent with the growth-acceleration mandate Tanner outlined publicly. Industry observers tracking snack and confectionery sector leadership moves have noted that Hershey has been investing in its international infrastructure as part of its broader ONE Hershey strategy, which unifies confection, salty snacks, and functional nutrition under a single go-to-market approach. Almond's EMEA expertise in particular could inform how Hershey allocates resources across markets where premium snacking trends are gaining traction.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
