Hershey's Wants To Pay You To Figure Out How To Ship Chocolate To Warm Climates

The Hershey Company is looking for answers on how to keep its chocolate from melting in warm climates, a problem that chocolate companies all over the world are fighting to figure out as they look to expand their markets, not to mention remain viable as global warming continues. 

To that end, Hershey's is willing to pay up to five people a grant of $10,000 to create shipping prototypes that would allow for the delivery of chocolate to regions of the world with warm climates. Ideally, a new shipping design would be lightweight and affordable, and keep chocolate at 75 degrees Fahrenheit or cooler for at least 48 hours. 

"With the rise of e-commerce, we understand it is critical to have affordable cool shipping technologies in place to continue providing consumers with quality experiences all year long," said Eric Zampedri, Hershey's manager of packaging innovation research and development.

"We decided a great way to solve this challenge was to take it to the same people who love chocolate through a crowdsourcing competition that will help us discover innovative technology ideas."

Submissions for the crowdsourced solution are due to Hershey's by February 15. Five people will receive a $10,000 grant to begin developing prototypes, for completion by July 2016. The best of these five will be given an additional $25,000 for additional development.