The end of Wonder Bread and Twinkies??

[turquoisedude]

I could hardly believe this article when I saw it!  Wonder how this will all turn out... (pun intended)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/twinkies-maker-hostess-brands-files-ch-11-bankruptcy-125323858.html

 

[westie2]

Wonder Bread is a good bread but so expensive  we buy the store brands.  Twinkies are good too but other brans lare cheaper and taste as good or so my grandkids say.   Looks like retirement obligations and medical are the biggest problems with them and having the union.

 

[joeekaitis]

 

 

Bimbo Bakeries USA (a Mexican-owned corporation) is probably dangling a big fat check in front of the board of directors.

 

[whirlcool]

I grew up with Wonder Bread (actually we were a Silvercup family) and Hostess Sno-Balls, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, etc. But I haven't had any of those in years and years, like maybe 30 years or more.

A while back we were in the grocery store and saw this huge obese woman in a powered shopping cart and she got out of the cart and put two boxes of Ding Dongs in her basket and drove off. I thought, I haven't had those in years. So I grabbed a box and looked at the nutritional value box on the box.
Egads! Those things are instant heart attack!

Hostess - Ding Dong

Servings: 1

Calories 180 Sodium 115 mg
Total Fat 9 g Potassium 0 mg
Saturated 7 g Total Carbs 23 g
Polyunsaturated 0 g Dietary Fiber 1 g
Monounsaturated 0 g Sugars 18 g
Trans 0 g Protein 1 g
Cholesterol 5 mg
Vitamin A 0% Calcium 1%
Vitamin C 0% Iron 4%

You know how small each cake is? Tiny. The average person would probably eat three or four of them. That's probably the equivalent of a Big Mac at McDonalds!

And are Twinkies any better?
See the link....

Maybe if Hostess went out of business some people would eat healthier?

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-hostess-twinkies-i113361

 

[mattl]

Wonder bread and it's ilk is part of the reason this country is so over weight and unhealthy.  There is very little nutrition in Wonder Bread.  For decades I bought whole wheat or 12 grain bread, now I just make my own.  No chemicals, no preservatives and I know exactly what's in my bread.

 

If they go under I feel bad for the employees, but the health of the country may go up a tick, but odds are people will just move on to the next over processed junk food.

 

[westie2]

Allen you are right on being bad.  We have a Jackson baking company here (Little Debbie) and even driving by it causes blood sugar to go up and heart hurt.  People would just go to then for the fix. 

 

[retropia]

When the Atkins diet became popular, suddenly everyone believed carbohydrates are evil. Sales of baked goods dropped. Interstate Bakeries (now calling themselves Hostess Brands) has high fixed costs (mostly labor), and you can see the difference in pricing on grocery store shelves. As carbs slowly regained popularity, then the recession hit and consumers were flocking to cheaper brands. The company has also been slow to introduce healthier products, which would at least attract customers less price-sensitive.

So they've been hit with a number of punches, bad timing, bad luck, poor management and stuck with high costs.

 

[nmassman44]

I used to work for them in Maine in the office and went thru the first bankruptcy. The operation has alot of wasted spending. True the Atkins diet did not help matters but what they did was to outsource to a company called Accenture to pay the bills. They used to have accounts payable in house and did away with that. I had to deal with people that could barely speak English and did not understand anything or how things were paid. Going to Accenture cost them big bucks more so than doing it in house.
True that the union there thinks that the company has deep pockets. People on the floor average about $20 an hour to start. In the office it wasn't union so we were paid less. When I was there , there was talk of Sara Lee buying them, that didn't happen , then George Weston was thinking of buying it but the debt load is too much. This company is now underwater by $850 million. The costs keep rising for flour, sugar, utilities, gas, and the have raised prices so sky high on bread that who would pay $4 a loaf for Nissen Canadian bread or even for WonderBread...they come off the same lines.
Little Debbie is a bitch for them and yet over the years IBC had this mentality that they had a "superior product" with the Hostess line and that people will pay the premium for it. Not any more. So I doubt very highly that Bimbo aka Beembo will buy them. They may buy the brands that Hostess/ IBC has but not the buildings, machinery, or even the employees. Remember thatHostess/ IBC has 19,000 employees .

 

[petek]

I can't see the products disappearing altogether, they're too well known. I only like Wonderbread for peanut butter sandwiches, they're just not the same on other bread for me. They do have their new Wonder Invisibles bread which is a whole wheat bread but looks like whitebread, it's not bad actually and if I was still a fussy kid eater I'd eat it and probably wouldn't know. We had WonderBread home delivery growing up.. do they still do that anywhere?
And yeah every once in a while I'll buy a box of twinkies or cupcakes. Never like the sno-balls or fruit pies very much.

 

[wayupnorth]

Their Biddeford, Maine plant just got hit this week with $107,000 OSHA fine for repeat safety violations. Is that the one you worked at nmassman44?

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I haven't bought or eaten either in YEARS!!!!!!

"The Original White Bread & Junky Cakes"!!!!!!

Little "wonder" (PUN intended!) that w/ the way Americans have adopted "healthier eating" that these are on the "endangered species food list"...!

-- Dave

 

[nmassman44]

Yep that's the plant I worked at. I am not surprised about the OSHA fine.

 

[rickr]

I heard about this on NPR today. It is so funny the way Hostess is trying to place the blame on their own workforce. Too many costly entitlements paid to the workers,etc. You know, the same old song and dance from corporate America these days. The honest truth is, this is a story about a company that has not kept their own products up to date with the times. Anyone who cares even slightly about their own basic health does not eat Twinkies, overpriced white bread, or any of the other crap this company continues to produce. End of story.

 

[norgeway]

White Bread Vs Whole Wheat!

I grew up eating old whole wheat/ multi grain bread because it was"Good for you",,Well ...if I never see another piece of old straw bread as I call it, it will be too soon!!I still maintain ,if it tastes good, its bound to be bad for you!

 

[arbilab]

Little Debbie is no comparison to Hostess snacks. But neither are Hostess snacks compared to how they used to taste. Even when I was still into desserts I quit buying Hostess. And I used to LOVE twinkies.

Here in Texas we had a premier bakery, Mrs. Baird's. Their products were truly excellent. But a few years back they were bought by Bimbo and of course the quality went down to JBA, just barely adequate, where all corporations today aim.

Just in the last year the quality of Mrs. Baird's brown N serve rolls (I buy for holiday dinners) dropped a MAJOR notch to where they're no better than house brand. In fact, I bought the house brand, tried them and was disappointed so I made another special trip to the store for Mrs. Bairds. But when I served them, they were no better. Indistinguishable, at almost twice the price.

 

[westie2]

Yes Mrs. Bairds bread was good haven't had it in a long time.  We used to buy it when we lived in Dallaw and houston.  When in New Orleans we always bought Sunbeam they had the big factory right off I-10 close to downtown.  The smell in the morning commute was fantastic. 

 

 

 

[hunter]

sad

It is sad that the quality of commercial baked goods is SOO bad.

Years ago I bought an expensive bread machine (a Zojirushi). It gets at least one use per week for me, lasts for years, and a loaf of bread costs <$.75 AND it is of the quality equivalent of a $3-$5 loaf.

So I figure that in 1 year I pay for the cost of the machine and by end of year 3 I've avoided making a lot of purchases

The quality of commercial baked goods makes me do most of my own baking; wifey is gluten and dairy and egg free, and I'm dairy free, so it makes sense anyway. (Dairy is in EVERYTHING because it is cheap protein).

As for Hostess , I grew up in the NYC area and preferred Tasty Cake

 

[westie2]

In the time we lived in New Orleans (really Metairie) we would buy Schwegmann bread (made at Sunbeam) and would get 6 loaves of bread for a $1.00 this was in the 70's and 80's  Would buy the fresh French bread backed in the store for $0.30 then up to $0.50.

 

Was good bread and great french bread.

 

 

 

[petek]

Speaking of Sunbeam Bread.. haven't seen it around here for years

Here's a commercial.. geeze I feel old now

 

[toploader55]

OMG

That Commecial is Great. Thanks for making me feel older too. LOL

 

[circlew]

Sunbeam

Pete, Sunbeam is baked by Perfection Bakeries (Aunt Millie's), and is available at Meijer and Kroger in this area. The quality of Aunt Millie's products seems to be higher than most of the other breads. I most often get the Whole Grain Honey White.

I never did like Wonder Bread, didn't care for something about the texture of it. My mom hardly ever bought it; we usually got Butternut or Rainbo instead. Never did eat Ding-Dongs, but did like the Hostess Snowballs. Haven't had them in many years. When I eat cake, I want it to be really good cake, so usually make at home.

 

[mixguy]

Sunbeam Bread

During the early 1960s, Sunbeam bread advertised being "batter whipped" and having fine texture and no holes. Television advertisements were shown having Mixmaster model 12 and others using a GE model 25. The red background of the bread wrapper had an outline of a model 9 MixMaster. It was rumored that Sunbeam Appliances objected to the use of their mixer on the bread wrapper. The outline on the mixer on bread wrappers was discontinued.

 

[mixguy]

Web Search

I found an Sunbeam bread advertisement having a Sunbeam model 11 on the kitchen counter and a Dormeyer "Princess" mixer whipping batter.

 

[washernoob]

I always have been recently spoiled with Rotella's italian bread. I used to have to eat Wonder Bread. Euch! Nasty stuff!

I never did enjoy their little treats, but it is such a huge company, would never have thought they would go bankrupt.

 

[lordkenmore]

It's been so long since I had Wonder Bread that I can't even remember having it. All I really remember dates back to when I was in elementary school. I was, at times, a picky eater, and I think bread was one of the "problem" foods.

In any case, one night an ad came on TV for Wonder Bread. I can't remember it, but I do remember the impression it gave me--all kids just love it! I turned to my mother, and suggested we might try Wonder Bread. She told me that we already had, and that I'd hated it.

So much for the wonders of Wonder Bread.

 

[spookiness]

am I the only one

Who thinks "Hoho's, Dingdongs, and Snowballs" sounds like a porno title?

As for the products, good riddance. Times change. Keep up or you will be gone.

 

[whirlcool]

Years ago when we were growing up our parents didn't worry too much about how bad these baked goods were. After all we were kids and we'd run the calories off. I think most parents bought them as a special treat to be offered only now and then.
And I'm willing to bet that if our mothers knew how bad they were, we wouldn't have gotten them in the first place.

But that was way before dietary labels were put on foods and we were taught how to interpret them. We've come a long way haven't we?

 

[travis]

I am shocked

All these comments about living healthier.  I really don't believe that many folks are watching what they eat.  The problem with junk food is the quantity.  You're supposed to eat ONE twinkie for lunch and not the whole darn box!  I like knowing that these things are on the shelf.  I'd probably hate it if thy "updated" the products to get with the times.  After all, most people on this site are behind the times with these ancient appliances.

 

[peterh770]

First, Hostess has all the opportunity in the world to update their products to make them healthier and just as tasty. They haven't done that. Maybe they will do so with this reorg.

Second, the bankruptcy will allow them to renegotiate their contracts and benefits. "Additionally, Hostess employees are unionized while most of its competitors aren't. As a result, Hostess has high pension and medical benefit costs. The company has 19,000 employees and operates in 48 states."

Third, I kinda smell a bailout gift on the horizon: "The Teamsters Union, which represents about 7,500 of Hostess' delivery drivers and merchandisers, said in a statement on Wednesday that it is also committed to working toward a solution."

Last, it appears some good capitalists are keeping the company going: "The Irving, Texas-based company said that it will be able to maintain routine operations thanks to a $75 million financing commitment from a group of lenders led by Silver Point Capital LP."

 

[whirlcool]

Some companies have changed recipes on famous items usually to the customers dismay. The trick is to make it healthier than he previous version while maintaining the same taste. And that's a trick in itself.

Honestly, I am definitely eating healthier than I used to years ago. If I want something to snack on it may be a can of mandarin oranges, or some fat free Ritz crackers with a slice of 100% cheese.