Hershey chocolate company promotes Michele Buck to CEO

Hershey Co. promoted Michele Buck to chief executive officer as the Pennsylvania chocolate giant faces shifts in consumer food consumption and a consolidating global confection industry. The change is effective March 1, the company said on Wednesday. Buck, who has been with Hershey since 2005 and is chief operating officer, replaces John Bilbrey who announced in October he would be retiring as CEO. Bilbrey will remain as non-executive chairman. The nation’s largest chocolate marker is controlled by the scandal-plagued Milton Hershey School for impoverished children, also in Hershey, Pa.