Your dwindling stock pile of Twinkies is about to be replenished. Hostess, the company that filled convenience store shelves with the beloved cream-filled pastries for decades, is back from Chapter 11 bankruptcy under new ownership and leaner structure.
So what happened to Hostess and what should you expect from the “sweetest comeback in the history of ever”? Let’s find out.
Hostess Goes Belly-Up
Why did Twinkies disappear in the first place? Like every headline story, there are two sides. Hostess claimed that it needed to file bankruptcy after years of flailing revenue and the high cost of a unionized workforce prevented the company from being competitive in the marketplace.
Workers had a different version of what happened, according to Yahoo! News:
Workers blamed the troubles on years of mismanagement, as well as a failure of executives to invest in brands to keep up with changing tastes. The company said it was weighed down by higher pension and medical costs than its competitors, whose employees weren’t unionized.”
Greg Rayburn, a restructuring expert, was hired as Hostess’ CEO. He attempted to reach a deal with the second largest union and failed. Workers went on strike, the company wasn’t able to maintain normal production, and those iconic sponge-cake snacks become a scarce commodity (unlike, say, diamonds).
Fortunately, the Hostess Cupcake won’t be a thing of the past
Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and America’s favorite snacks disappeared from the shelves. 15,000 unionized workers lost their jobs in the aftermath, Hostess sold off portions of its product portfolio, and a manic rush by the public cleared shelves across the nation of Hostess snack cakes.
Fast forward to today. Hostess has emerged from bankruptcy, trimmed down and ready to bring cream filled pastries back to store shelves.
Twinkies Return: Coming to a Store Near You
If the re-introduction doesn’t get you giddy, image all 150,000 convenience stores across the nation stocked with Twinkies.
Did you know that Hostess used to manually deliver their products to each store individually? This prevented them from reaching every convenience store in the US, but under the new structure, Hostess can now deliver to supply warehouses:
That will greatly expand its reach, letting it deliver to dollar stores and nearly all convenience stores in the U.S. Previously, he said Hostess was only able to reach about a third of the country’s 150,000 convenience stores.”
What’s better than just 7-11s stocked with boxes of Twinkies? All convenience stores, from coast to coast, stocked with Twinkies.
Some Things Never Change
The new slogan: The Greatest Comeback in the History of Ever
So the panic is over! Now you can expect Twinkies and other delectable snacks to be in convenience stores across the country. The same great flavors we all came to love will remain unchanged.
While most of the products will be exactly as your taste buds remember, there are a few variations to take note of.
Per Yahoo! News:
“For the CupCakes, the company is now using dark cocoa instead of milk chocolate to give them a richer, darker appearance.”
Thankfully, that’s all we can expect for changes to the product line-up. Hostess president Rich Seban said some variations could occur down the line like different textures and flavors in the spongy cakes, but for now, our other iconic snacks will remain the same.
The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever
Ladies and gentlemen, the crisis has been averted. Come July 15th, Twinkies and other pastries will be back on store shelves. It’s time to celebrate — assuming you haven’t been persuaded to ditch sugar, that is.
Are you happy to see an American classic back of store shelves? Was your stock of golden, cream filled sponge cake on reserve? Share your favorite Twinkies stories in the comments.
See Also
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