Twinkies

[John Fabre]

Buy your twinkies now, or buy them from China later.

[Peter Kelly]

Sucks for the 18,500 employees that won't have jobs. Can't say I'll miss Twinkies.

[Kevin Bourque]

No more Wonderbread either.

[Paul McGaha]

I used to pack them in my lunch box. Taste good, affordable.

Bad for you no doubt.

Hate to see them go. Maybe one of their competitors will pick them up.

We liked Wonderbread too.

PHM

[Myk Rian]

Oh no. RJ is going to convulse at this news.
(Over the Hedge)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Actually...late this afternoon, the CEO of Hostess said they hope to sell product rights /brand to US competitors.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I will caution everybody that discussions of unions and union labor are political and are not allowed.\

[Brian Elfert]

I will caution everybody that discussions of unions and uninion labor are political and are not allowed.\

It seems it would be easier for the moderators to give us a list of what is allowed as the list of banned topics is so long. I understand this is a woodworking forum, but this is the off-topic part of the forum. Nobody has to click on this part of the board if they are only interested in woodworking.

I so much as mentioned the name of a law making body once and my post got yanked. There was nothing political about my post and I suspect 95% of readers wouldn't see anything political about it.

Unions aren't a political party. They aren't part of government. I don't quite understand why they are banned as political. I think the real issue is unions are highly controversial and generate a lot of heated comments that the forum owners and moderators don't want here.

[John Fabre]

Actually...late this afternoon, the CEO of Hostess said they hope to sell product rights /brand to US competitors.
That's good news, I don't want to see anyone out of work.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brian....this off the topic of the OP.

Union labor and non-union labor are historically an emotional subject and that makes the subject political.

Unions and Union Labor traditionaly back one of the 2 major US political parties and thus play a large part in US national elections.

And you are right. We don't want the heat from irrational emotional rants.

The TOSs specifically state that discussion will be friendly and civil. Too many of those who get into those heated discussions can't show the necessary self-discipline to remain civil.

There are forums out there for those types of discussions.

Frankly it's not fun playing referee for a bunch irrational rants that don't belong at a website for woodworking.

[Matt Meiser]

No matter what a lot of people are going to lose their jobs from this. No new owner is going to operate it the same way if it wasn't sustainable as is.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I don't know that anyone wants to see anybody out of work either but companies who can't make a profit or at least break even, go bankrupt.

[C Scott McDonald]

I am going to miss those little apple pie things they made for sure. Never much of a twinkie person.

[Matt Meiser]

Try the Krispy Kreme pies. 10 times better!

[John Fabre]

Try the Krispy Kreme pies. 10 times better!
Never had Krispy Kreme pies, are they new?

[Matt Meiser]

I don't know. Our Kroger has had them at least a year.

The Amish in NE Ohio make Fry Pies that are even better!

[John Fabre]

Maybe that will replace my deep fried Twinkies.

[Jason Roehl]

I doubt Twinkies are going away. There's about $2.7 TRILLION dollars in capital sitting on the sidelines just waiting for a good investment opportunity. The various brands and recipes will be up for auction out of the bankruptcy court at a steal for pennies on the dollar. Americans haven't given up on their gluttonous ways just yet.

[Kevin Bourque]

No talk about unions?

What about the union of soft fluffy cake with delicious creamy filling?

[Greg Peterson]

Hostess has been circling the drain for the past ten years. In this time they have had six CEO's.

2003 - Hostess begins closing production facilities.

2004 - Hostess enters into bankruptcy, workers agree to wage and benefits concessions amounting to $110 million in savings for Hostess.

2009 - Hostess emerges from bankruptcy, controlled by a private equity firm and by two hedge funds.

2011 - Hostess demands more concessions from workers.

2012 - Hostess enters bankruptcy again, asks for more worker concessions, stops paying pension obligations.

[charlie knighton]

i always check stuff for sugars and carbs, and if made in usa, food made outside of usa is a defiant no no, i had in the past occasionlly drank something from outside the usa, thats a real no no now not so much from where but....

[Myk Rian]

2009 - Hostess emerges from bankruptcy, controlled by a private equity firm and by two hedge funds.

Well, there's the problem.

[charlie knighton]

yeah, those finance guys are not quality or operational people, when working big box store, when they got ahold of things, they wanted to bring seasonal stocks in the week of peak sales , like the stuff jumps on the counter and labels itself, much less the customer seeing the items and remembering where they saw it now that they need it, walmart has figured it out, they had xmas up before halloween

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hostess has been circling the drain for the past ten years. In this time they have had six CEO's.

2003 - Hostess begins closing production facilities.

2004 - Hostess enters into bankruptcy, workers agree to wage and benefits concessions amounting to $110 million in savings for Hostess.

2009 - Hostess emerges from bankruptcy, controlled by a private equity firm and by two hedge funds.

2011 - Hostess demands more concessions from workers.

2012 - Hostess enters bankruptcy again, asks for more worker concessions, stops paying pension obligations.


What is your "source" of information?

[Brian Elfert]

One article I read somewhere said work rules are part of the problem at Hostess. One worker loads snack products onto a truck and another worker loads bread products onto that same truck. The same worker could not load both snack and bread products.

My co-worker was a truck driver for Hostess some years ago before he got into IT. He confirmed the whole thing about different workers loading bread and snack products onto the truck.

[Greg Peterson]

There is plenty of blame to go around. In my opinion, management failed on many fronts. They failed to create a product that met consumer demand. However, they were also burdened with a work force that was entrenched in processes and procedures that limited the companies ability to be adaptive in a changing landscape. The company failed to properly fund the pension plan by $2 billion, yet at least one set of managers gave themselves an 80% raise. Clearly the raise these executives awarded themselves wasn't the difference between success of failure of Hostess, but it makes asking the workers to take another cut in compensation challenging. Especially since the company had not been keeping their obligation to the pension fund.

A company that goes into bankruptcy twice in less than ten years has a problem with its business model.


Ken -
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/26/hostess-twinkies-bankrupt/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324556304578122632560842670.html
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=6d7b095e-e558-4dc4-83e9-1859d177e676
http://seattletimes.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/2019696179_what_killed_hostess.html

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Greg,

As long as you include all the issues....you are absolutely correct. Too often, biased persons will take one side of the issue or the other....and try to lay the blame for failure on one side. The problem is almost never just one side.....almost never.

[Gary Hodgin]

Too late, wife went to Kroger and all twinkies and cupcakes were long gone. Oh well. Wonder if this is a Hostess plot of some sort?

[John Fabre]

Too late, wife went to Kroger and all twinkies and cupcakes were long gone. Oh well. Wonder if this is a Hostess plot of some sort?
There's twinkies on eBay.

[Curt Harms]

Actually...late this afternoon, the CEO of Hostess said they hope to sell product rights /brand to US competitors.

That's what I expect to happen, I'd think the brand has value. This situation has been getting quite a bit of air time on Philly stations because there is a bakery in the area . One striker was on camera saying that he hoped someone else would buy the brand and hire all the workers back. I thought to myself that the first part was plausible.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8887764

[Rich Engelhardt]

Rats...no more Beefsteak Rye.... :(.


One striker was on camera saying that he hoped someone else would buy the brand and hire all the workers back. I thought to myself that the first part was plausible.
Sadly - so is the second.
I say sadly, because I'm sure the striker believes the new owner will hire back everyone at the same pay rate and with the same benefits.
That's not what's going to happen.

[Joe Angrisani]

.....A company that goes into bankruptcy twice in less than ten years has a problem with its business model.....

Couldn't agree more. Hostess already hosed it's suppliers once and was able to walk away from it's commitments. Fool me twice, shame on you.

And Hostess just doesn't have modern product. Overly sugary sweets and fiberless white bread are the food equivilent of buggy whips.



.....The problem is almost never just one side.....almost never.

Couldn't agree more, Ken. ;)

[Jerome Stanek]

If someone else buys it they may move their own people in or just hire new and not the strikers.

[Brian Elfert]

If someone else buys it they may move their own people in or just hire new and not the strikers.

Exactly. If a new owner just buys the brand and facilities they would be under no obligation to have a union. If they buy the facilities they may rehire some of the employees for their experience, but I bet the total compensation will be less. It is unfortunate, but in today's world pension plans are becoming a rarity because they cost the employer so much money.

[David Weaver]

To blame the problems on private equity is completely misguided. The fact that the brand couldn't raise capital via public debt or equity issue should tell you all you need to know about it. Private equity is only something you do if you have to, because they expect higher margins than public equity and debt holders...and for a good reason.

If the assets are sold, it would suggest to me that the current owner recognizes that they don't have a realistic plan to make money with the current business model (likely because they need to operate with smaller market share), it's just a natural part of the business cycle. We aren't all out buying straight razors, television sized radios and hi fi consoles. Times change, and not every business is setup to just change into making or providing something else.

[David Weaver]

Exactly. If a new owner just buys the brand and facilities they would be under no obligation to have a union. If they buy the facilities they may rehire some of the employees for their experience, but I bet the total compensation will be less. It is unfortunate, but in today's world pension plans are becoming a rarity because they cost the employer so much money.

Pensions cost a lot strictly because the market isn't earning returns over the last 12 years. The market isn't earning returns because there's no realistic plan for real economic growth on a macroeconomy scale. If the market was earning real returns of 5% or so, we'd never hear a peep about pensions. Every dollar a pension plan doesn't earn is a dollar the employer has to contribute.

The quick fix to put everyone in a 401k is a good plan a alleviate that if you can do it, but it does leave you as the 401k holder wondering if an institutional trust can't get returns, then how do you have a hope of getting adequate returns to retire. An individual in a 401k has no means to efficiently defease risks that a pension can without significant overhead (i.e., it costs more to annuitize a 401k benefit than it does a pension benefit).

In my opinion, the entire retirement system needs an overhaul where participants still can earn a benefit that is employer provided, but where risk is shared among the employees, retirees and the company equally.

There is going to be a gigantic mess of people who didn't save any money or who didn't save enough, probably 40% or more of the population, and they're going to be retiring with debt that social security won't cover.

Anyway, you can't just run a brand into the ground and cast stones at investors for wanting a return, because you are often the investor, even if you don't know it.

[David Weaver]

I do have to add that I LOVE the hostess chocolate pies and white powdered donuts. Their white powdered donuts are the best (when they're fresh). There's all kinds of stuff in the chocolate pie that nobody should eat, but man they are good.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

So many pension plans are invested in the stock markets and the pensioners don't even know it. The state workers of Idaho and Montana recently found that out. The state workers in Idaho includes teachers.

[Brian Elfert]

Pension plans have been in trouble for a long time. We've been hearing about them being unsustainable in many cases for years. Some industries have many more retirees than current employees. A lot of companies bet on continued growth to fund pensions and when that growth stopped there wasn't enough money in the pension plans. The big three auto makers spend tremendous amounts of money on retiree benefits. The Central States pension plan is deep under water. UPS decided it was cheaper to pull out of the Central States pension plan with a nearly $4 billion payment than continue with them. A big city locally got in trouble with a long closed city pension plan. It was too generous with benefits going up as current employees got raises. It was closed to new employees at least 20 years ago. It recently merged with a statewide pension plan.

I'm at an age where I'll pretty much be on my own for retirement. Social Security will probably never go away, but it is almost certain benefits will be less and retirement age will go up. No new employer starting up is likely to offer a pension plan unless the workers are unionized.

[John Fabre]

Long live the Twinkie.

[David Weaver]

David,

So many pension plans are invested in the stock markets and the pensioners don't even know it. The state workers of Idaho and Montana recently found that out. The state workers in Idaho includes teachers.

I work on pensions for a living. What's left of them. They are entirely dependent on returns when the populations in them are as mature as they are. It is in everyones' best interest for the market to be strong because those earnings
* drive the plans' ability to pay benefits, which means participants have the ability to receive benefits
* protect the stream of earnings to generate tax revenue for the federal treasury
* and free up capital for all companies to invest
* limit the demand on current and future tax revenues to make up investment losses on public plans

Once the market drops, there really is nowhere else to get returns on that scale. We are absolutely dependent on growth in the economy, otherwise there is no way for benefits already promised to be paid.

And if pensions don't have the ability to generate returns, when they are far better investors than the average individual, then individuals with directed accounts have no chance and they will realize it far too late in life to do anything about it.

And you're right, state pensions are some of the biggest investors, and some of the most exposed.

To the extent that economic borrowing constrains future growth or the ability to collect future earnings on an after tax basis, the market will be weak, which has negative effects across the board and across generations. Similarly, companies that have no business plan to generate profits are also not growing and their values will decline. The effect is the same either way. We are all connected one way or another in the economy, even those with the greatest disdain for economic growth in general.

[Myk Rian]

David,

So many pension plans are invested in the stock markets and the pensioners don't even know it. The state workers of Idaho and Montana recently found that out. The state workers in Idaho includes teachers.
But aren't the Politicians the ones who put those funds in the stock market?

[David Weaver]

But aren't the Politicians the ones who put those funds in the stock market?

There is nowhere else to put them. You can use the fund to buy fixed assets, but despite the fact that fixed assets have returned well over the last 10 years as the rates continue to drop, this same fixed assets will tank when the rates go back up.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

David,

I started investing in the market via a 401K in the late 70's. When my employer was sold by one large corporation to a larger corporation, I closed that account and paid off some credit card bills. I immediately started another 401K with my new employer. I have been a small steady investor for over 30 years. I am cautious by nature and have a fairly diversified/mix of stocks and bonds. It's worked well for me.

It always amazes me the number of people who don't realize how many people they know locally are invested in the stock market. On a whim a couple weeks ago, I opened a local phone book to the yellow pages. The town where I live has a population of about 31,000 and there is probably another 30,000 or so within a 10 mile radius in other smaller communities. So within 10 miles roughly 60,000-65,00 people. There were 32 investment firms listed in the yellow pages. This is a small blue-collar, mill town and it has 32 investment firms? There aren't to my knowledge many millionaires in the area.

There have got to be a lot of locals invested or there wouldn't be 32 local investment firms listed in the local phone book.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Myk,

David would know better than I but I suspect those state pension funds are controlled by an independent outside firm and not the politicians or the state governent itself.

I know at least one of the two corporate pension funds which effect me are handled by a separate pension fund company.

[David Weaver]

I'm not sure how laws are state to state (I don't work on governmental pensions), some states were historically invested conservatively, but the options that those funds were in to generate returns without taking any risks have evaporated. State treasury departments may have had authority to set investment policy in some states, and legislative committees in others. Even if the investment policy is set by government employees or appointees of politicians, it is likely carried out by private companies or with the assistance of private companies.

Anyway, to put the environment in context when those funds were more conservatively invested, there were actually low-risk investments that had a fair return above and beyond inflation. Those options have evaporated, and if funds were universally invested in debt and debt-based assets (like insurance products, corporate debt or muni bonds) the returns on them would be even less, near zero in a lot of cases - which would create deficits the same as the equity market has.

Many of the state funds decided to go to a more balanced investment policy when there was the appearance of economic growth, and opportunity for future economic growth looked good. It didn't seem reasonable to continue with debt assets that had declining returns when the markets were returning many times what debt was returning. In retrospect, it looks like most of that growth was fueled by speculation and borrowing, but few knew that at the time, and anyone arguing against growth could only spite themselves by refusing to invest in assets that were gaining. The lack of underlying real growth is still the issue, either way.

Corporate funds are somewhat different. The trustee for a fund has a fiduciary duty to invest in prudent assets (I'm sure the same fiduciary responsibility exists for state pension funds, but I don't know if their rules vary state by state) in the interest of the participants and nobody else. State laws were not always so strong about whether or not the investments could benefit someone other than solely the participants.

Corporate funds are generally handled by investment strategists who have the ability to consider the risk of the fund vs. returns in combination not just with asset risks themselves but deficit risk, which involves the risk created when assets have a liability attached to them. It's much more involved than "picking winners on a hunch". States likely do almost the exact same thing now as corporations as far as I know, if they didn't they'd probably be setting themselves up to be sued. One thing that kept corporate plans out of the madoff funds and hedge funds in general was the strength of the fiduciary laws, as the trustees would have exposed themselves to regulatory and lawsuit trouble if they invested in something they couldn't understand. There are some hedge funds in private plans, but the hedge funds that are there are actually hedging strategy funds, and not growth funds.

My opinion only, but a lot of what got the states in trouble was the lack of diligence that private trustees are held to. they invested in things they didn't understand or that couldn't be understood, but to look back now and say things would be great if the funds were just invested in fixed conservative assets is not true, because the funds still would not be able to earn returns their contributions were based on and they would still be in the position now where wealth is being transferred from one generation to another (the current actives to the current retirees) because there was no mechanism to tie the risks/experience of the retired and terminated participants to their benefits.

[Matt Meiser]

The shelves at our Kroger are picked clean. All that was left was a box of blueberry mini muffins and some Wonder wheat bread.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

There will be a lot of sugar "highs" tonight!:D

[David Weaver]

Someone has probably already gotten my bags of white powdered mini donuts. That's a real downer.

[Curt Fuller]

http://nbclatino.com/2012/11/17/will-twinkies-be-reborn-through-new-mexican-ownership/

Maybe we'll be able to get jalapeno twinkies in the future.:D:D;)

[Matt Meiser]

The Toledo Blade reports:


“I came all the way from Gibsonburg just to get some [Twinkies]. That’s what I wanted. My kids love them in their lunches,” Diana Valencia said as she walked out of the store carrying bags of other Hostess products.

Instead of her desired Twinkies, Ms. Valencia had to settle for about two dozen boxes of Hostess Zingers, Donettes, and Mini-Cupcakes. “I picked up what I could get,” she said.

Likewise, Dan Root of Toledo was on a quest for Twinkies but also left disappointed. “I was going through what they had for a while, and ended up with Hostess Cupcakes and orange Snowballs. This is unbelievable,” he said.

[Stephen Cherry]

Everybody, just let it go. It's the normal business cycle. If people wanted overpriced bread, or over sugared synthetic cream filled deserts, they would have bought them.

I just cant remember the last time I bought anything from them. As for the workers, they should have seen it coming. Think about it, if you are delivering bread to a store, and the store brand bread is about a third of the cost of your product, how long could it last? I buy normal sandwich bread for .99 or 1.19. Is wonderbread really that much better to be more than double the price? Most people paying with real hard earned money will care about value.

And those twinkies just were not very good. Our Amish in MD have pumpkin roll, which is super deliciousness in roll form. It actually tastes like something more than just sugar.

[Gordon Eyre]

It's probably been over 50 years since I had a Twinkie and after reading this thread I found myself wanting one. My wife and I laughed about that.

[David Weaver]

Everybody, just let it go. It's the normal business cycle. If people wanted overpriced bread, or over sugared synthetic cream filled deserts, they would have bought them.


They sell extremely well here. I usually get the donuts about once a week, and fairly often, they are out at the convenience store downtown. I don't think they had a revenue issue, I think they had a cost issue.

I haven't actually seen anyone eat a twinkie in a long time, but the other stuff goes pretty fast here, and it's in pretty much every store, from 7 11 to target.

[David Weaver]

http://nbclatino.com/2012/11/17/will-twinkies-be-reborn-through-new-mexican-ownership/

Maybe we'll be able to get jalapeno twinkies in the future.:D:D;)

Bimbo cakes. I agree with the comment in that article, the fact that the maker of ho hos could be bought by a baked goods company called Bimbo is pretty funny.

[Bill Cunningham]

Apparently this is having no effect on the production of these items in Canada. So, along with Smarties & Kinder Eggs(which are outright illegal in the USA), Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes will now become Canadian Icons..:D

[Damon Stathatos]

...And those twinkies just were not very good...

Blasphemer !!!



Apparently this is having no effect on the production of these items in Canada...Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes will now become Canadian Icons..:D

First Nov 6th...now Hostess. How's the real estate market 'up' there? A buyer's market ?

[Bill Cunningham]

Blasphemer !!!




First Nov 6th...now Hostess. How's the real estate market 'up' there? A buyer's market ?

The real estate market is good. Depending on the area, house prices are increasing each year.. Canada has a regulated banking system, so we were not hit nearly as hard as the u.s. Virtually ALL my u.s. sales have dried up, but my Canadian sales have expanded to fill the gap. I used to sell 20-30k of product into the states every year, and this has pretty well vanished. But sales to customers in provinces like B.C. and Alberta have increased every year, with Ontario running in 3rd place so I'm not suffering at all. Bought my house 42 years ago for 16k,(mortgage probably doubled that cost) but I can sell it now for over 300k and it's going up 2-5% every year

[Myk Rian]

While at some friends home last night, we watched an E-bay listing for a 24 pack of Twinkies.
Went for $100.

[Curt Harms]

Everybody, just let it go. It's the normal business cycle. If people wanted overpriced bread, or over sugared synthetic cream filled deserts, they would have bought them.

I just cant remember the last time I bought anything from them. As for the workers, they should have seen it coming. Think about it, if you are delivering bread to a store, and the store brand bread is about a third of the cost of your product, how long could it last? I buy normal sandwich bread for .99 or 1.19. Is wonderbread really that much better to be more than double the price? Most people paying with real hard earned money will care about value.

And those twinkies just were not very good. Our Amish in MD have pumpkin roll, which is super deliciousness in roll form. It actually tastes like something more than just sugar.

Yup, Hostess' product line was kinda behind the times. I expect in this area there's not much angst at Entenmanns. I don't know that Entenmanns has the snack pack line that Hostess had (I generally don't buy 'em) but IMO their quality is way better.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

That 'splains it!

245844

[John Fabre]

This is so wrong.

[Curt Harms]

Apparently this is having no effect on the production of these items in Canada. So, along with Smarties & Kinder Eggs(which are outright illegal in the USA), Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes will now become Canadian Icons..:D

Another smuggling err - 'importing' opportunity!!! :D :D. I read in yesterday's newspaper there's a court hearing today to start liquidation of the company. I also read that 30% of the company workforce is represented by the bakers union. Hostess had already come to agreement with their largest union, the teamsters and the teamsters union was trying to find a way forward.

[Ole Anderson]

My favorite was the foil covered Ding Dongs, with their crunchy chocolate covering that reminded me of the chocolate dipping on a Dairy Queen cone. Cream filled chocolate cake dipped in dark chocolate. Yum. Too bad I have been a chocoholic that is allergic to chocolate for 20 years now, makes me want them even more.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSgHG6xS8jnbyt_E4ehPovtntAU6yKbl xgkjFywRcmsOgVjAMC1http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTenD93bHlTmmTk_klXopxSuUHaqatzu 0b2amyZkcMkmn7neTEbkQ

[Joe Leigh]

Remember when they used to be called "King Dongs"? You know things are out of control when a snack cake name is deemed politically incorrect...

[John M Wilson]

Remember when they used to be called "King Dongs"? You know things are out of control when a snack cake name is deemed politically incorrect...

Not sure it was a Politically Correct thing or a name infringement thing...

From Wikipedia:

The company (Hostess) marketed the snacks on the East Coast as Big Wheels, to avoid confusion with the Ring Ding, a similar (and pre-existing) treat by Drake's Cakes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Cakes). The names were consolidated in 1987, when a short-lived merger of Drake's with Hostess' parent company (then Continental Baking Company) briefly resolved the Ring Ding/Ding Dong conflict. When the merged company broke up, however, Hostess was forced to cease, once again, using the Ding Dongs name in areas where Ring Dings were available. The compromise sound-alike name King Dons lasted until Interstate Bakeries Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Bakeries_Corporation), which had recently merged with Hostess' parent company, bought Drake's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s)in 1998. The Hostess product is now sold under the name Ding Dongs throughout the United States. However, the snack is still sold as the King Don in Canada.

[Brian Elfert]

This saga may not yet be over. The union and Hostess have agreed to a mediation session with the bankruptcy judge Tuesday afternoon. Hostess will ask the bankruptcy court for a conversion to a chapter 7 bankruptcy on Wednesday morning if mediation is not successful.

[John Fabre]

I hope they can work out a deal, not good timimg right before Chrismas. Being from the East coast, I was wandering if Tasty Cake is still around?

[John Fabre]

This saga may not yet be over. The union and Hostess have agreed to a mediation session with the bankruptcy judge Tuesday afternoon. Hostess will ask the bankruptcy court for a conversion to a chapter 7 bankruptcy on Wednesday morning if mediation is not successful.
Mediation tomorrow ... don't count the dead Twinkies yet. http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/19/news/companies/hostess-bankruptcy-bonuses/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[Paul McGaha]

I hope they can work out a deal, not good timimg right before Chrismas. Being from the East coast, I was wandering if Tasty Cake is still around?

We can get Tasty Cake stuff here. It's pretty good, Just me but I like the Hostess stuff better.

I think my favorite would be the chocolate cupcakes first, the little white doughnuts second, and the twinkies third. We hardly ever buy that stuff any more but there was a time when we bought it every week.

I'd say the Wonder/Hostess product we buy the most of was the Wonderbread and the Wonder hamburger buns and hot dog buns.

[John Fabre]

We can get Tasty Cake stuff here. It's pretty good, Just me but I like the Hostess stuff better.

I think my favorite would be the chocolate cupcakes first, the little white doughnuts second, and the twinkies third. We hardly ever buy that stuff any more but there was a time when we bought it every week.

I'd say the Wonder/Hostess product we buy the most of was the Wonderbread and the Wonder hamburger buns and hot dog buns.
The Hostess stuff here is nothing what it once was. Bread, cupcakes, doughnuts and Susie-Q's are too dry. The Tasty Cake pies and the little cakes with red jelly filling were the best. Wait, I just gained 10 pounds.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I stated very early in this thread it wouldn't be allowed to evolve into heated rants and arguments about unions versus management. Most of the articles used as reference are biased and therefore not completely factual.