(Bloomberg) -- Hershey Co. hit record production levels in 2021 by adding more capacity -- but it still hasn't kept pace with the world's insatiable appetite for its sweets and snacks.
“We're still playing catch-up to consumer demand,” Chief Financial Officer Steve Voskuil in an interview. “We're doing everything we can to optimize inside the footprint that we have and expand machinery into every available space.”
See also: Hershey hits record after results highlight execution
The company added four new manufacturing lines in 2021 and more are planned for 2022, he said. It's part of a “capital-efficient approach” that uses all available space before adding more. “In some cases, we can change the layout of the machines to try to squeeze in more capacity,” he said.
But that approach may be reaching its limits. “We're pretty well utilized right now, so certainly as we end of 2021, there isn't a ton of unused space,” he said.
As the pandemic keeps consumers at home, Hershey has gotten a boost from changes in behavior such as more at-home celebrations of seasonal holidays. Voskuil says these changes are “sticky” and he expects them to continue in 2022.
Hershey on Thursday reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates. The shares rose 3% to $204.55 at 12:04 p.m. in New York, bring the stock's gain so far in 2022 to about 6%.
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