Goodbye, Twinkies: Hostess shutting down

[BackinJax05]

Who in the world eats that crap anyway?  No taste but sweet fat.  Good riddance!

its made with bleached, sugared suet as the creme filling.  Ever heard of suet?  Wonder why they don't spell it 'cream'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suet

Good God, man. What IS that??? 

[Ocklawaha]

Oh my God! I've been nearly suicidal since I heard the announcement.

I even made a special trip to Publix to buy the last boxes of cup cakes and ding dongs! 

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZLiVeRJTtqo?version=3&hl=en_US

[buckethead]

That is hilarious.

Fine art.

still loling

[Cheshire Cat]

A buyer for Hostess?  Perhaps.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-16/pabst-owner-metropoulos-is-considering-bid-for-hostess-brands.html



Diane M.

[buckethead]

I'd say a buyer is a foregone conclusion. There is value in the brand if not in the company. The only issue is price.

[Timkin]

Hostess will live on in some form or fashion.  Its a matter of time.    This is very sad news for many whose livelihood depended on the company.    Probably one of many yet to fall.

[I-10east]

www.theonion.com/articles/laidoff-hostess-employee-forced-to-look-for-cremei,30425/

[If_I_Loved_you]

[Ocklawaha]

What a touching picture... God I'm going to miss them.   

[I-10east]

I know that alot of the reason for Hostess demise was union related, but IMO Hostess was very complacent in this dog eat dog world. Lets face it, when it comes to snack cakes, Lil' Debbie and Tastykake kick the crap outta Hostess. Hell, even generic brands like Wal Mart's Great Value is more creative. Hostess seemed satisfied with it's baby boomer era nostalgic foods, while other bakeries were constantly being unique adding new tasty treats, and blowing them outta the water.

Nearly all of the Hostess snacks are already replaced by other companies' similar snacks.

Twinkie = Lil Debbie Cloud Cake
Ho Ho= Lil Debbie Swiss Roll
Zinger= Tastykake Krimpets
Wonder Bread, and Mini donuts are basically commonplace with nothing making them taste 'unique'.

IMO the relatively new Lil Debbie's Cherry Cordials, Cinnamon Rolls with icing, and Tastykake's Smores Bars are very good; I'll put those up to anything that Hostess has. That being said, a few days ago, I got a couple boxes of Twinkies, and a box of cupcakes for old time sake. 

[Ocklawaha]

I generally agree with you on this I-10 East, though losing Hostess is a crime, losing Little Debbie would be a national catastrophe.

[thelakelander]

I've never had a twinkie in my life.  Even as a kid, they never looked appealing to me. I'm more interested in the future of Hostess' Jacksonville bakery, which has been in continuous operation for nearly a century.  I'm hoping that whoever purchases the company's assets will decide to keep it running.

[spuwho]

Per the Chicago Tribune:

The last shipment of Hostess products from a Georgia bakery were shipped to Chicago based Jewel stores to meet overwhelming demand. Demand so great, the store chain even posted the list of stores that would get them on their Facebook page.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-jewel-says-it-has-last-shipment-of-twinkies-20121211,0,2047216.story



Jewel-Osco said it is getting what it believes is the final shipment of Twinkies in the country, with more than 25,000 boxes of Hostess products available Tuesday morning in stores.

The company says its shipment includes 20,000 boxes of Twinkies and 5,000 boxes of Ding Dongs, Zingers and Orange Cupcakes.

"We received a call from our Hostess rep saying that one of the plants in Georgia had some left and would we want any," said Mike Siemenas, a spokesman for Jewel parent Supervalu. "We said we'd take the entire shipment."

Jewel is selling the Hostess products will be sold at regular price, with no limits, while supplies last. And that may not be long, based activity early Tuesday.

At the Jewel store at 4660 W. Irving Park, at least 10 customers waiting to snag some at just after 7 a.m. It was out of Twinkies shortly after.

Siemenas said the chain has been selling out of Twinkies within an hour of opening. Stores have been flagging calls from customers seeking more information since Jewel posted news of the shipment on its Facebook page.

[JeffreyS]

Typical post Regan capitalism 2005 execs misreported earnings sold their stock for a bundle. Weeks later they said it was an accounting error and asked the workers to take a pay cut and the workers did.  More years more pay cuts and the executives get more bonuses and even use the workers pensions to pay themselves. When the some of the workers  only one of the smaller unions involved finally give a little push back they immediately declare bankruptcy and give the executives one more bonus on the way out.  This is the Bain model load the company with debt to pay the execs file bankruptcy and use the money you made to do it again to another company.

[finehoe]

Apollo Cashes In After Ripping Off Workers

Apollo Global Management LLC (APO), the buyout fund led by billionaire Leon Black, is planning to take a dividend from Hostess Brands Inc. after buying the maker of Coffee Cakes and Twinkies out of bankruptcy 14 months ago.

Apollo and co-owner C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. are seeking $175 million from Hostess, according to a statement from Standard & Poor's. The payout won't affect the company's rating of B- and will leave it with $40 million in cash and $60 million in available credit.

The buyout funds bought the Kansas City, Missouri-based baker in March 2013 for $410 million. C. Dean Metropoulos leads the bakery after turning around struggling brands such as Chef Boyardee and Bumble Bee Tuna.

Charles Zehren, an Apollo spokesman at Rubenstein Associates, declined to comment on the deal. Hannah Arnold, a spokeswoman for Hostess at LAK Public Relations Inc., didn't immediately respond to requests seeking comment on the proposed dividend.

Since relaunching, Hostess has used less cash than S&P originally forecast and earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization have exceeded previous estimates, the credit rater said. S&P is maintaining its "highly leveraged" financial risk profile on Hostess because of its ownership by the private equity sponsors.

The company's brands include Ding Dongs, Suzy Q's and Sno Balls. It advertised its return to the market as "The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever."

A predecessor filed for bankruptcy in January 2012, less than three years after emerging from a previous period of court protection. The latest bankruptcy, which included other divisions in addition to the Hostess baked goods unit, came after a strike by bakers and left asset buyers free of union contracts and $1.3 billion in debt.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-15/apollo-taking-hostess-dividend-after-bankruptcy-exit.html