LesserEvil Helped Hershey Bounce Back in Q1 Amidst "Better for You" Surge
Hershey's newly acquired popcorn brand LesserEvil has helped the company grow amidst changing consumer preferences.
The Hershey Company is known for its iconic brands like Reese's, Twizzlers, and of course all the Hershey-named products like Hershey's milk chocolate bars and Hershey's Kisses. But while the confectionery side still accounts for the bulk of the company's sales, its salty snacks unit is growing faster in North America, boosted by consumers seeking healthier alternatives.
That's not to say consumers are fully eschewing sweets and other indulgences, but Hershey has been tapping into growing demand for products that are generally "better for you" than mainstream treats.
LesserEvil embodies this trend. The snack brand, perhaps best known for its popcorn, uses simple, organic ingredients that most people are familiar with, while offering fun, tasty flavors.
And while it generally leads with health benefits, LesserEvil has also engaged in a variety of environmental sustainability initiatives. For one, it has partnered with NEO Plastics to incorporate an additive that helps packaging biodegrade in landfills, addressing the reality that recycling these types of snack bags is currently impractical.
Hershey already had a portfolio of salty snack brands that overlap somewhat, such as SkinnyPop and Pirate's Booty, which to some extent are Better for You brands, compared to some traditional fried chips and snacks.
Even still, these arguably don't fit as cleanly into the current Better for You zeitgeist, which seems to blend factors like feeling good rather than promoting diet culture, while at the same time making food more experiential and positive for everyone from farmers to the end consumer. There even tends to be sort of a cool, lifestyle component to the branding.
That's a lot to fit into a plastic bag, but LesserEvil's approach seems to be working.
Now whether or not the brand actually lives up to its image is another story.
In 2024, Consumer Reports found high levels of lead in its kids puffs product, for example. And the CEO's son was a DOGE staffer, which created enough of a stir that LesserEvil had to issue a response that it doesn't have any political affiliations, as The Verge reported.
Still, these types of associations can potentially hurt brands, such as if there's dissonance between environmentally minded consumers and an administration that's rolling back environmental regulation.
Whether these types of issues catch up to LesserEvil remains to be seen, but for now at least, the data is clear that consumers are flocking to Better for You brands like LesserEvil.
LesserEvil's First Full Quarter Inside Hershey
In November 2025, Hershey closed its acquisition of LesserEvil for approximately $750 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
And after navigating a tricky 2025, amidst factors like high cocoa prices hampering earnings, Hershey bounced back with a strong Q1 2026. Net sales for the quarter grew 10.6% year over year, with LesserEvil alone accounting for nearly one-fifth of that jump. For its North America salty snacks segment in particular, Hershey's net sales increased by 26% in Q1, with 20 of those percentage points attributable to LesserEvil.
Granted, adding new products to a lineup via acquisition can boost anyone's net sales, but LesserEvil seems to be booming. In Hershey's prepared remarks for its Q1 earnings call, President and CEO Kirk Tanner said that "LesserEvil retail sales grew more than 65%, fueled by high trial and repeat rates and expanded distribution."
It's not exactly clear what timeframe that covers, but all signs point to strong growth.
Tanner added that Hershey's is "encouraged by this early performance and focused on building on it through continued distribution expansion, adjacent category entry, and brand building investment."
Broadening Better for You
To be fair, Hershey also saw some strong growth in brands that aren't exactly in the Better for You segment. Dot's Pretzels, for example, grew 13%. And overall, excluding LesserEvil, Hershey's branded salty snacks grew sales volume by nearly 10% year over year in Q1 2026.
Still, Hershey is clearly leaning into Better for You, with Tanner naming it in the earnings call as one of the specific R&D pillars it's focused on, alongside "Premium" and "Sweets."
Relatedly, Hershey also saw 17% growth in Q1 for its protein bar portfolio, which includes ONE and Fulfill. Tanner mentioned on the call that functional snacking like this is also an R&D investment area, and Hershey has entered into a joint venture with Vitakey, which offers a "breakthrough protein delivery" technology, he said.
It's also worth noting that trends like GLP-1 usage can intertwine with consumers choosing more functional snacks like protein bars.
For diversified companies like Hershey, this trend can cut both ways. On one hand, GLP-1 usage could threaten brands in its confectionery category.
Still, Tanner maintained on the earnings call that this "category is relatively insulated compared to other food categories" based on being a small indulgence with an emotional component, rather than being a meal that's being swapped out. And as CNBC reported, competitor Lindt has seen faster growth in premium chocolate sales in the U.S. among GLP-1 users vs. non-users.
Meanwhile, Tanner also noted that Hershey has seen the gum and mints category benefit from GLP-1 usage, with the Ice Breakers brand growing retail sales by 8% in Q1.
Altogether, these trends indicate a continued shift toward a more discerning consumer.
There's still room for many different types of brands to find their lanes, like those leaning into small indulgences vs. those focusing mainly on functional benefits.
Still, it seems to increasingly be the case that consumers aren't just grabbing whatever's convenient. There's more intention behind their choices, and brands need to often connect on a deeper level, beyond just being convenient or affordable. That leaves space for more brands trying to be a force for good in the world, whether that's helping human health, planetary health, or some combination of positive impact.