Hershey said Onorato has been a mentor and trusted teammate to so many throughout his 38 years in Pennsylvania and his “positive energy and fighting spirit are legendary”.
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 vice president 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 vice president/general manager of all Hershey small format business in 2015.
The company said he will continue in a transition role until the end of September.
Onorato is also 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.
He has also been widely recognised for both his work in sales and for advancing diversity within the industry.