Hershey, Pennsylvania-based The Hershey Co. has announced that Dave Onorato, VP and general manager of its small format business, will retire this year.
“Onorato has been a mentor and teammate to so many throughout his 38 years,” the company said in a statement. “His positive energy and fighting spirit are legendary. Because of his deep care and attention for his teammates and customers, he will continue in a transition role through the end of September.”
Onorato’s connection to convenience store sales spans more than two decades since he first assumed the role of national director of convenience store sales in 2002. By 2005, he was named VP of global convenience store sales, where he was responsible for developing Hershey’s global c-store customers. A year later, he assumed responsibility for special trade classes (vending, fundraising and concession), as well as food-service and dollar store sales.
He was named VP and general manager of all Hershey small format business in 2015.
Throughout his tenure with Hershey, Onorato has forged relationships with customers and colleagues by building upon simple, core values of honesty and trust. He has been widely recognized for both his work in sales and for advancing diversity within the industry.
Onorato is a member of the National Candy Association, NACS, Convenience Distributors Association and NAMA. In 2012, he was elected into the NCSA Candy Hall of Fame, and most recently inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame in 2020.
For more information, visit thehersheycompany.com.
For more Northeast news from The Shelby Report, click here.
