RIP: Twinkies

[tandfman]

. . .and Wonder Bread, Devil Dogs, and Hostess Cupcakes.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/16/news/co ... s-closing/


Actually, the Twinkies brand is a valuable property and I'm sure someone will buy it and sell a product with that name on it. Will it be the same? Stay tuned.

[Marlow]

Be calm . . . breathe slowly . . . in . . . out . . . we can get through this . . . why are my fingers trembling? . . . I'd like a Twinkie, please . . . seriously . . . give me one NOW . . .
give me now or the PUPPY GETS IT!!

http://www.cutepuppiesforsale.net/wp-co ... r-Sale.jpg

[gh]

Note from a friend on my Facebook page:

<<Fear not, if you stock up on them now, they should be good until 2052.>>

[Marlow]

<<Fear not, if you stock up on them now, they should be good until 2052.>>

Which is, of course, the secret to my ever-lasting good looks . . .

[guru]

Twinkies pshaw. Raspberry Zingers are the true loss!

But fear not - as tandfman said Hostess will surely sell off their brands during the bankruptcy.

[cullman]

You can make your own Zingers and Twinkies: http://www.grouprecipes.com/129430/home ... ngers.html
...or you can cross the border. Canadian supplies aren't affected by Hostess' shut down in the US.

[tandfman]

Other views of the situation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/us/ba ... erica.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/opini ... -days.html

[no one]

from LR:
Twinkie news

X-Runner wrote:

I was just about to start a thread called "Hostess is done!"

But I saw your thread and realized you have had really good political threads that don't get deleted.
So we can have a really good discussion here.

This is big business vs, unions. Letsrunners love this stuff.

Hostess has been around forever and is still very prominent in the grocery store.
Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ring Dings, Devil Dogs and of course Wonder Bread.
Their sales are good.
This is all about the business not running well.

They are broke.
The workers (unions) are on strike because of pay cuts.
And management is saying they need to take the cuts or be fired.
And the decision was to fire them and end the company.
Management probably has some nice golden parachuttes an will get some money out this.

The assets will be sold off.
The brand names will be up for grabs.
We may see Twinkies and Wonder Bread come back under another company since they have great brand recognition and good sales.
I don't know the details of how that all will work.

Thoughts?
Unions are bad and they should have been happy to have a job and just taken the cuts?
Greedy business owners squeezing the little man, taking the cash and running the business into the ground?

What say you?


I've worked on the Hostess audit the last couple of years, and this is fairly accurate. The demand for their product is sufficient to sustain a business, but they have inefficient distribution channels and awful union contracts that are bleeding them dry. I would have to disagree with management having nice golden parachutes, though. No one is making out well in this situation.

I wouldn't say that all unions are bad, but this union is. Unions should be for SKILLED laborers. The employees at Hostess don't have any bargaining power. You could train a chimp to do what they do.

[BillVol]

Twinkies have not tasted as good as they used to for many years. The cake, filling not as good.

[Blues]

I lived in the suburban Philadelphia/New Jersey area for 25 years. I don't eat sweets very often, but I'll take Tastykakes over Hostess any day... Butterscotch Krimpets put Twinkies to shame..

[Marlow]

Other views of the situation:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/us/ba ... erica.html

Perfect description from that article:

After opening the tinfoil or cellophane wrapping with curatorial care, so as not to disturb the faux-chocolate frosting, you would have gently removed the puck-shaped treat and taken a bite deep enough to reveal crème — not cream, but crème — so precious that a cow’s participation was incidental to its making.
You did not care that this processed food product in your trembling hand was an industrial step or two removed from becoming the heel of a shoe. You already knew that not everything is good for you, and this was never truer than with a Twinkie, a Sno Ball, or a Ring Ding — the Ding Dong equivalent in the Northeast.
To you, they all tasted like, like: America.

[lonewolf]

I have eaten Wonder Bread but as the perrenial minority here, am I the only person to never have eaten a Twinke, HoHo, Ding Dong, etc... ?

[Marlow]

am I the only person to never have eaten a Ding Dong?

If by 'never eaten a Ding Dong', you mean you don't have it EVERY day for breakfast, then you and I can't agree AGAIN!

[tandfman]

I have eaten Wonder Bread but as the perrenial minority here, am I the only person to never have eaten a Twinke, HoHo, Ding Dong, etc... ?

I've had some of that company's products, but I don't recall every having eaten a Twinkie.

(So why, then, did I start this thread? Just to upset Marlow. )

[LopenUupunut]

I have eaten Wonder Bread but as the perrenial minority here, am I the only person to never have eaten a Twinke, HoHo, Ding Dong, etc... ?

I can't recall ever even seeing any of those

[Marlow]

(So why, then, did I start this thread? Just to upset Marlow.)

And I would have been disconsolate, but I read that Ding Dongs (and presumably the other 'snack cakes') will just change hands and keep on coming!!

[tandfman]

Meanwhile, it looks as if it ain't over 'till it's over.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/bl ... iation.xml

[Conor Dary]

Interesting story about the private equity firm that bought Hostess, in today's NYTimes.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/ ... f=business