The Hershey Company chief financial officer Patricia Little will retire from her role in the spring of 2019, roughly four years after she took the job.
The firm – which owns brands such as Jolly Rancher, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Rolo – has started a search for her successor.
Michele Buck, Hershey CEO, said: “Patricia has been a critical leader at Hershey, providing counsel and partnership as I took the helm and charted a new vision for the company.
“Patricia has been instrumental in helping create a more profitable and sustainable international business model, instilling a more disciplined cost management model across the enterprise, and successfully leading the company’s financial systems implementation, an important piece of our ERP transformation. She will remain a strong partner to me and the business as we plan for her transition.”
Little added: “After more than a decade as a CFO for two public companies, I am looking forward to a more relaxed lifestyle.
“Hershey is a wonderful company with a great future ahead of it. I will continue to be focused on delivering our 2018 commitments and setting up the business with a strong 2019 plan.”
The announcement comes months after Hershey was named among four companies from the food and beverage industry commended by DiversityInc in its annual list of the world’s most diverse businesses.
The Pennsylvania-based firm was praised for having strong representation for women in senior roles; it has twice as many women in the top two levels of management as the average across the S&P 500.
Last week PepsiCo announced that its CEO Indra Nooyi will be leaving the company after 12 years at the helm, to be replaced by Ramon Laguarta.
Her departure means that among the world’s 100 largest food and beverage companies only Hershey and Land O’Lakes – which appointed Beth Ford as its chief executive just last month – have female CEOs.
In its most recent quarterly results, Hershey saw its net sales rise 5.3%, thanks in part to the strong performance of the product portfolio of its Amplify business.
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