Get those Twinkies and Yodells while you can.[this post was last edited: 11/16/2012-17:51]
End Of Another American Food Icon - Hostess Bakery Shutting Down
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danemodsandy
Well-known member
80 Jobs Lost Here.....
....In Waterloo, IA. Good bakers are in demand, and I'm hoping the employees let go will soon find new jobs, but it's still not a great thing to have happen.
The present hope is that the building and equipment will soon find new owners who will keep them productive. My understanding is that Mexico's Groupo Bimbo is interested.
....In Waterloo, IA. Good bakers are in demand, and I'm hoping the employees let go will soon find new jobs, but it's still not a great thing to have happen.
The present hope is that the building and equipment will soon find new owners who will keep them productive. My understanding is that Mexico's Groupo Bimbo is interested.
While I was listening to APM's "Marketplace" program on NPR this afternoon, an industry expert advised that he would be very surprised if the Hostess and Wonder brands didn't live on under new ownership, claiming they have huge value in name recognition. He cited brands such as the various Chex cereals and related products that are still on the scene long after Ralston Purina (nickname Checkerboard Square back in the day) ceased their production.
Those fearing Twinkie withdrawals likely have nothing to worry about.
Those fearing Twinkie withdrawals likely have nothing to worry about.
I don't think
they'll really go away, I firmly believe that it's just a temper tantrum on the part of management, and some other organization will buy them. I've heard the Grupo Bimbo rumor for some time.
I would not miss Twinkies that much, never liked them nearly as much as Dolly Madison Raspberry Zingers or the Hostess "fruit" pies.
Furthermore, it's high time for a renaissance of home baking!
Lawrence/Maytagbear
they'll really go away, I firmly believe that it's just a temper tantrum on the part of management, and some other organization will buy them. I've heard the Grupo Bimbo rumor for some time.
I would not miss Twinkies that much, never liked them nearly as much as Dolly Madison Raspberry Zingers or the Hostess "fruit" pies.
Furthermore, it's high time for a renaissance of home baking!
Lawrence/Maytagbear
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Just Do NOT....
....Take Beefsteak pumpernickel bread from me.
....Take Beefsteak pumpernickel bread from me.
dirtybuck
Well-known member
I'm a BIG fan of Hostess cupcakes and Dolly Madison sweet rolls (mainly cherry and cinnamon flavors).
There Was A Time When Most Every American Mother
Packed something by Hostess or similar along with their children's school lunches. Today one is likely to have one's children put into care and or questions raised about one's suitability for parenting in some circles for such things! Least in most parts of Manhattan anyway where "box lunches" include all manner and sort of gourmet, organic and so forth contents.
Wonder Bread is anything but IMHO! *LOL* Well it tis a wonder they get away with still calling it bread. Has anyone peeped the ingredients of WB lately? It is no *wonder* a loaf of the stuff takes ages to go stale/mouldy if at all. Being as all that may there are times the best comfort food around is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with Wonder Bread. Takes one right back to childhood. Something about the squishyness of that particular bread.
By most pundits accounts the brands themselves along with assorted recipes hold great value, and thus should make the bankruptcy sale profitable.
Saw news interviews with some of the workers at various plants located in New Jersey and Seattle, and for some of them this is going to hit hard. You've got men and women who have been with Hostess for >20 years. Everything those "older" workers have such as homes, cars, etc all came from working at Hostess. The company cut pensions and increased employee contributions to healthcare, but that still wasn't enough for management.
It is worth nothing Hostess itself has been teetering back and forth, in and out of bankruptcy for years now. The current ownwers are a private equity group and we all know no good ever has come to a company once those vultures get their mitts on them. Hostess's carcasse will be picked clean just like the scores of other American companies that met similar fates thanks to PI and VC firms.
Packed something by Hostess or similar along with their children's school lunches. Today one is likely to have one's children put into care and or questions raised about one's suitability for parenting in some circles for such things! Least in most parts of Manhattan anyway where "box lunches" include all manner and sort of gourmet, organic and so forth contents.
Wonder Bread is anything but IMHO! *LOL* Well it tis a wonder they get away with still calling it bread. Has anyone peeped the ingredients of WB lately? It is no *wonder* a loaf of the stuff takes ages to go stale/mouldy if at all. Being as all that may there are times the best comfort food around is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with Wonder Bread. Takes one right back to childhood. Something about the squishyness of that particular bread.
By most pundits accounts the brands themselves along with assorted recipes hold great value, and thus should make the bankruptcy sale profitable.
Saw news interviews with some of the workers at various plants located in New Jersey and Seattle, and for some of them this is going to hit hard. You've got men and women who have been with Hostess for >20 years. Everything those "older" workers have such as homes, cars, etc all came from working at Hostess. The company cut pensions and increased employee contributions to healthcare, but that still wasn't enough for management.
It is worth nothing Hostess itself has been teetering back and forth, in and out of bankruptcy for years now. The current ownwers are a private equity group and we all know no good ever has come to a company once those vultures get their mitts on them. Hostess's carcasse will be picked clean just like the scores of other American companies that met similar fates thanks to PI and VC firms.
I admit I eat Twinkies and Cupcakes occasionally and I definitely prefer a peanut butter sandwich on Wonder but don't buy it very often.
When I was a kid we used to get Wonder Bread home-delivery every week, back in the day when we had a milkman as well, and mom would check off which items to have delivered the following week.
When I was a kid we used to get Wonder Bread home-delivery every week, back in the day when we had a milkman as well, and mom would check off which items to have delivered the following week.
whirlcool
Well-known member
Have you ever looked at the nutritional value of Twinkies or HoHo's?
Almost instant death! They have something like 97% of your daily requirement of fat, and that's for ONE HoHo! Twinkies are no better. And let's not even talk about Transfat's & Saturated Fat's!
I think some people will start to lose weight if these products are discontinued!
Almost instant death! They have something like 97% of your daily requirement of fat, and that's for ONE HoHo! Twinkies are no better. And let's not even talk about Transfat's & Saturated Fat's!
I think some people will start to lose weight if these products are discontinued!
Well I worked for the company so I know that this was a long time coming. Your Beefsteak pumpernickel bread...say buh bye to it...thats an IBC brand as well as Nissen, Merita, Drakes,Hostess,Dolly Madison,Home Pride, Wonder, any store brand bread like Target Market Pantry, Stop and Shop, Shaws, Market Basket,Walmart, and the list goes on and on. IBC/Hostess made quite a bit and the impact to the consumer is going to smart some. Now in Maine 500 employees are getting laid off and the 9 left in my office will be getting it too. Not to mention the 3500 in the New England area with the depots, hubs and thrift stores. 18,000 will be affected by the shut down.
The whole strike was about the CEO and upper management giving themselves whopping raises and wanting the workers to "finance" the raises. The CEO Rayburn went from making $750,000 a year to $2.2 Million and thats the tip of the iceburg. Then they knew the company was in dire straits and they wanted the workers to take a 27% benefits cut and a nice 8+% paycut. And they waned to cut the pensions..that I didnt get as a nonunion office worker. You have to remember that the Company is being held by a "holding Company" named Ripplewood.think Bain Capital's twin sister. They squeezed as much as they could and there was no more to drain so they went after the workers. Now its over for now unless another company comes in and buys the brands /plants. The company will be broken up into pieces. Sara Lee was rumored and so was George Weston and Beeeeeembo aka Bimbo to buy or take over. The plant in Biddeford was state of the art and was the newest plant. So we will see how this drama plays out.
The whole strike was about the CEO and upper management giving themselves whopping raises and wanting the workers to "finance" the raises. The CEO Rayburn went from making $750,000 a year to $2.2 Million and thats the tip of the iceburg. Then they knew the company was in dire straits and they wanted the workers to take a 27% benefits cut and a nice 8+% paycut. And they waned to cut the pensions..that I didnt get as a nonunion office worker. You have to remember that the Company is being held by a "holding Company" named Ripplewood.think Bain Capital's twin sister. They squeezed as much as they could and there was no more to drain so they went after the workers. Now its over for now unless another company comes in and buys the brands /plants. The company will be broken up into pieces. Sara Lee was rumored and so was George Weston and Beeeeeembo aka Bimbo to buy or take over. The plant in Biddeford was state of the art and was the newest plant. So we will see how this drama plays out.
This is an interesting confluence of market forces.
"Hostess" is in their 2nd Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They were called "Interstate Brands" after the 1st Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I think they were called "Hostess" before they went broke the first time.
I'm old enough to remember the old advertising slogans for Wonder Bread - "look for the red, yellow and blue balloons." I don't think Wonder Bread was really any different than Old Home or Rainbow bread, but Wonder sure spent the ad bucks.
And I remember when a Twinkie was a real treat if your mom bought a box of them from the store. And that was way before Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs came out.
Then the Hostess fruit pies came out - a sugary, deep-fried pie with some fruit filling. Yum!
The big problem is, the owners took the dollars out of the company years ago - no innovation or reinvestment. And now the snackosphere has changed. Now you can buy Amy's Pita Chips - which really aren't that much more healthy, but if you're the mom in the store aisle, it sounds better. They took the bucks out, didn't change with the times, and now it's popular to blame the labor force for their failure.
Hostess failed to counter Dolly Madison back in the 1970s - Dolly Madison had Zingers with lots of different flavors of filling, plus they leveraged the Peanuts characters to claim market share.
If I can figure out a way to hook up my air compressor to my Kitchen Aid mixer, I bet I could make home-made Twinkies.
Sad to seem 'em go, but I felt that way when I couldn't get PF Flyers tennis shoes any more, either - and PF Flyers were way better than Keds because you'd get a cool plastic whistle. And the world continued to turn...
"Hostess" is in their 2nd Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They were called "Interstate Brands" after the 1st Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I think they were called "Hostess" before they went broke the first time.
I'm old enough to remember the old advertising slogans for Wonder Bread - "look for the red, yellow and blue balloons." I don't think Wonder Bread was really any different than Old Home or Rainbow bread, but Wonder sure spent the ad bucks.
And I remember when a Twinkie was a real treat if your mom bought a box of them from the store. And that was way before Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs came out.
Then the Hostess fruit pies came out - a sugary, deep-fried pie with some fruit filling. Yum!
The big problem is, the owners took the dollars out of the company years ago - no innovation or reinvestment. And now the snackosphere has changed. Now you can buy Amy's Pita Chips - which really aren't that much more healthy, but if you're the mom in the store aisle, it sounds better. They took the bucks out, didn't change with the times, and now it's popular to blame the labor force for their failure.
Hostess failed to counter Dolly Madison back in the 1970s - Dolly Madison had Zingers with lots of different flavors of filling, plus they leveraged the Peanuts characters to claim market share.
If I can figure out a way to hook up my air compressor to my Kitchen Aid mixer, I bet I could make home-made Twinkies.
Sad to seem 'em go, but I felt that way when I couldn't get PF Flyers tennis shoes any more, either - and PF Flyers were way better than Keds because you'd get a cool plastic whistle. And the world continued to turn...
Homemade
Twinkies are not beyond possibility. A lot of recipes for them exist on the internet, including Gloria Pitzer's version called "Twinkles."
Also, homemade ones taste a lot better! (Some of them use real whipped cream for the filling. Those ones have to be kept covered in the fridge, but why not?)
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Twinkies are not beyond possibility. A lot of recipes for them exist on the internet, including Gloria Pitzer's version called "Twinkles."
Also, homemade ones taste a lot better! (Some of them use real whipped cream for the filling. Those ones have to be kept covered in the fridge, but why not?)
Lawrence/Maytagbear
Greedy bastards bleed their companies dry then blame the unions. I'm sick of venal management.
Newsflash...Dolly Madison is an IBC brand name...always has been.So there was no "competition" with Hostess Brand. IBC owned alot of brands and local brands at that. There are so many places and things they did that were so wrong and money spent like it was like water. It was never ending for a time. Where they went wrong the first time is that they outsourced the Accounts Payable function to Accenture which sent the work to India and the Phillipines. Paperwork was sent and "lost". Ingredients were not being paid for so vendors shut us off. Then they tried to reduce workforce in the offices and make people work thier asses off and take on 4 tasks or more. But no pay raise. Been there done that.
Weston (which is the baker for Wonder in Canada) has stated they're not interested. Nor is another biggy Saputo who make some of the snack foods not interested.
I'll bet either Kraft or Nestle goes after the name.. my money is on Nestle.
I'll bet either Kraft or Nestle goes after the name.. my money is on Nestle.
Fearing For Your Life
The uber vigilant earth muffins and egg plants in the Pacific Northwest make it very uncomfortable for anyone buying anything other than earth scrapings baked into a loaf that cuts the roof of your mouth. You might as well feed your kids cocaine as to be caught in public with Hostess products in your grocery cart. It just became too much trouble driving to Eastern Washington in disguises to buy Twinkies and Fruit pies. In defense of Seattle's culinary vigilantes we are pretty adept at reading nutritionals. One Hostess product equals X x Y in the gym, plus the cost of membership and its just not in the equations. I bought my red Lincoln from an office admin retiring from Hostess in Everett after 22 years. As a kid we couldn't afford store bought treats and as an adult I find the sensory pleasure dismal and two dimensional, grease and sugar.
The uber vigilant earth muffins and egg plants in the Pacific Northwest make it very uncomfortable for anyone buying anything other than earth scrapings baked into a loaf that cuts the roof of your mouth. You might as well feed your kids cocaine as to be caught in public with Hostess products in your grocery cart. It just became too much trouble driving to Eastern Washington in disguises to buy Twinkies and Fruit pies. In defense of Seattle's culinary vigilantes we are pretty adept at reading nutritionals. One Hostess product equals X x Y in the gym, plus the cost of membership and its just not in the equations. I bought my red Lincoln from an office admin retiring from Hostess in Everett after 22 years. As a kid we couldn't afford store bought treats and as an adult I find the sensory pleasure dismal and two dimensional, grease and sugar.
If memory serves me, last time I was in a Wonder/Hostess thrift store, Bimbo stuff was among the inventory. Unless I'm getting the W/H thrift store mixed up with Orowheat's.
Also heard on the same "Marketplace" broadcast today was the statement that if the Twinkie had never existed and someone tried to launch such a product today, it would never get off the ground due to the lethal nature of its ingredients, preservatives in particular.
My sister's friend had a pink Snowball perched atop the transmission hump on her Honda Civic's floor for years. It looked a little deflated, but the casing's appearance was no different from the day it left the bakery.
Also heard on the same "Marketplace" broadcast today was the statement that if the Twinkie had never existed and someone tried to launch such a product today, it would never get off the ground due to the lethal nature of its ingredients, preservatives in particular.
My sister's friend had a pink Snowball perched atop the transmission hump on her Honda Civic's floor for years. It looked a little deflated, but the casing's appearance was no different from the day it left the bakery.
@bajaespuma:
Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up.
If I can make a 1 dollar off your back and then I can claim bankruptcy and then make 2 dollars off your back by cutting your wages in half, then that makes me a good businessman, right???
That was a rhetorical question and I'm not trying to be a smartass. But the American workingman and workingwoman seem to be pretty much expendable in today's business game, and that's just wrong. And I have an MBA.
That's not necessarily very much different than management has seen labor over the years, but for some reason, when workers organize in their best interest anymore, all of a sudden they're the one trying to wipe out American Exceptionalism, capitalism and the American Way.
Yeah, I think that pretty much sums it up.
If I can make a 1 dollar off your back and then I can claim bankruptcy and then make 2 dollars off your back by cutting your wages in half, then that makes me a good businessman, right???
That was a rhetorical question and I'm not trying to be a smartass. But the American workingman and workingwoman seem to be pretty much expendable in today's business game, and that's just wrong. And I have an MBA.
That's not necessarily very much different than management has seen labor over the years, but for some reason, when workers organize in their best interest anymore, all of a sudden they're the one trying to wipe out American Exceptionalism, capitalism and the American Way.
