"Twinkies no longer will be just a sweet memory" by Candice Choi | Associated Press, June 24, 2013
NEW YORK — Hostess is betting on a sweet comeback for Twinkies when they return to shelves next month.
The company, which went bankrupt after an acrimonious fight with unionized workers last year, is back up and running under new owners and a with leaner structure. It plans to have Twinkies and other snack cakes on shelves starting July 15.
Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster return next month for Twinkies and other sugary treats, including CupCakes and Donettes. The company says the cakes will taste the same but the boxes will bear the tag line ‘‘The Sweetest Comeback In The History Of Ever.’’
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Hostess Brands Inc. was struggling for years before it sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in early 2012. 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 nonunion competitors.
Related:
"Hostess tripled its CEO’s pay and increased executive compensation by as much as 80 percent while it filed for bankruptcy for the second time earlier this year."
Yeah, SOMEHOW THAT NEVER MADE my CORPORATE PAPER!!
Hostess hired restructuring expert Greg Rayburn as its chief executive. But Rayburn failed to reach a contract agreement with its second largest union. In November, he blamed striking workers for crippling the company’s ability to maintain normal production and announced that Hostess would be liquidated.
The shuttering triggered a rush on Hostess snack cakes, with stores selling out of the most popular brands within hours.
About 15,000 unionized workers lost their jobs in the aftermath.
They didn't lose them. They had them taken from them.
Hostess sold off its brands to different buyers....
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
Related: Drake’s cakes also making a return
"Hostess set to reopen, expand bakery in Kansas" Associated Press, April 27, 2013
EMPORIA, Kan. — Hostess Brands LLC says it will reopen its eastern Kansas bakery this summer, with the hiring of an initial 250 people already underway.
The announcement was made Thursday by the investment partnership that bought Hostess Brands’ snack cake product lines.
More than 500 people lost their jobs when Hostess, then in bankruptcy proceedings, closed the plant in Emporia last November following a strike by union bakers....
Well, they were taken from them, but who wants to quibble?
Hostess Brands officials said they’ll expand the bakery. They’re aiming for total employment of about 300 people within the next few years.
Which means 200 jobs are permanently gone.
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Tastes like rubber cardboard.
Related: Boston Globe Junk Food
Also see: Twinkies buyer says cakes could return by summer
Hostess sale of Wonder bread nears completion
This was all about busting a union.
