content_image/1058475.jpg
In January 2018, we completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of Amplify, a publicly traded company based in Austin, Texas that owns several popular better-for-you snack brands such as SkinnyPop , Oatmega  and Paqui . The acquisition enables us to capture more consumer snacking occasions by creating a broader portfolio of brands. 

## TRENDS AFFECTING OUR BUSINESS 

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization designated the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, as a global pandemic. COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China and continued to spread, significantly impacting various markets around the world, including the U.S. Various policies and initiatives have been implemented to reduce the global transmission of COVID-19. 

Local, state and national governments continue to emphasize the importance of food supply during this pandemic and asked that food manufacturers and retailers remain open to meet the needs of our communities. Employee safety is our first priority, and as a result, we put preparedness plans in place at our manufacturing facilities. Our manufacturing facilities are currently open; however, we have adjusted shift schedules, enforced social distancing, increased sanitation and adjusted time and attendance policies for worker absenteeism. Our sales teams continue to support community food supplies, while adhering to social distancing guidelines, implementing flexible hours, reducing person-to-person interaction and increasing safety measures. At the onset of the pandemic, the Company temporarily closed all Hershey's Chocolate World stores in the U.S. (3 locations), Niagara Falls (Ontario) and Singapore; however, since July, all locations were re-opened on a limited capacity basis with increased safety measures and enforced social distancing. 

In June, we commenced a phased in approach to reopen our corporate headquarters in Hershey, Pennsylvania and other select offices with increased safety protocols. We have successfully onboarded several teams; however, occupancy levels remain low as we continue to monitor the latest COVID- 19 related public health and government guidance. As a result, a majority of our office-based employees continue to work remotely where possible. We have crisis management teams in place to monitor the continually evolving situation and recommending risk mitigation actions as deemed necessary. To date, there has been minimal disruption to our supply chain network, including the supply of our ingredients, packaging or other sourced materials, though it is possible that more significant disruptions could occur if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact markets around the world. We are also working closely with our business units, contract manufacturers, distributors, contractors and other external business partners to minimize the potential impact on our business. 

We believe we have sufficient liquidity to satisfy our cash needs; however, we continue to evaluate and take action, as necessary, to preserve adequate liquidity and ensure that our business can continue to operate during these uncertain times. Our most recent liquidity measures include the $1 billion Notes issuance in May 2020 with varying rates ranging from 0.900% to 2.650% and maturity dates ranging from 2025 to 2050. Additionally, we continue to limit discretionary spending across the organization and re-prioritize our capital projects amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to move forward with our new global ERP system implementation and supply chain capacity projects, as these investments are of strategic importance to our long-term growth. However, as previously announced, we did selectively pause certain aspects of the ERP system implementation due to resource constraints and challenges associated with the critical design phase during these uncertain times. We expect this to delay our overall ERP implementation by approximately one year. 

In late May and early June, many state governments began a phased reopening of their economies. These phased approaches promoted limited food service offerings, outdoor dining, increased travel and the reopening of retailing establishments while imposing new guidelines and enhanced safety measures, including social distancing and face mask protocols. As a result, we experienced an increase in our net sales and income during 2020. Unfavorable impacts from COVID-19 were primarily limited to our International and Other segment (see Segment Results  included in this MD&A). We believe the financial impacts from COVID-19 are temporary in nature and do not significantly affect our business model and growth strategy. 

While recent reopening approaches have made a short-term positive impact on local and state economies and the U.S. unemployment rate, certain states have modified reopening plans as new cases of COVID-19 have led to new trends in outbreaks and hotspots. Based on the length and severity of COVID-19, including the distribution of vaccinations, we may experience continued volatility in retail foot traffic, consumer shopping and consumption behavior. We will 

<img src='content_image/1058475.jpg'>

