Kirk Tanner took the helm at Hershey less than a year ago, inheriting a chocolate giant facing an unforgiving operating environment. The new CEO—arriving from Wendy's after three decades at PepsiCo—must now steer the company through GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, weakening consumer spending, and a turbulent cocoa market.

Hershey is betting heavily on its commercial intelligence team to decode shifting consumer behavior. The unit tracks everything from GLP-1 drug adoption to potential restrictions on food-stamp purchases, conducting video interviews that Tanner himself reviews.

The chocolate maker faces pressure on multiple fronts: health-conscious consumers reining in indulgence, wild swings in cocoa prices, and evolving federal food policy. Meanwhile, a member of the Reese's family has publicly weighed in on the company's famed peanut butter candy. Tanner's task is to make luxury chocolate accessible while navigating these intersecting challenges.