[rondo]

Well, it has come to this. Maker of the iconic Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, and Wonder Bread is closing up shop. They could not come to terms with their workers striking so it is all over for Hostess.

They plan on selling the rights to the brands and I sincerely hope someone decent gets their hands on them (I'd be completely satisfied if Little Debbie picked them up).

Alas, for now, farewell to Hostess. Haven't had a cupcake in awhile. I think I will today. And set aside a box of twinkies.

I remember enjoying various Hostess items in my days. Anyone else lament their passing?

EDIT: Grammatical repairs

This post has been edited by rondo: 16 November 2012 - 09:58 AM

[MOMO2]

Those all were my childhood treats. I still feast on the on occasion. I do hope someone good buys them out.

[Valkyrie]

I hope the rights get bought as well. They're household names, after all. I'm dieting now, and haven't had a Twinkie or Cupvake in ages....but I do love me some Wonder Bread.

[MsLovelyCookie]

I miss the 90's taste of the Hostess when they were made with real sugar instead of the fake sugar or is that my taste buts have changed over they years? Who knows. I enjoyed them when I could. Sad people are losing their jobs.

[TheStrongJaeger]

Thanks for ruining something else unions. :\

[kahad]

TheStrongJaeger, on 16 November 2012 - 11:54 AM, said:

Thanks for ruining something else unions. :\

+1

[Agatha]

MsLovelyCookie, on 16 November 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

I miss the 90's taste of the Hostess when they were made with real sugar instead of the fake sugar or is that my taste buts have changed over they years? Who knows. I enjoyed them when I could. Sad people are losing their jobs.

I think they must have changed the recipe, because I also remember them tasting different - they weren't quite so cardboardy back in the day.

Or maybe I'm just old.

In any case, it's sad to see something so iconic go.

[magishine]

I'm sure someone will buy up the rights to all the Hostess cakes and such. Twinkies won't be gone for long

[IshokuOsero]

I used to eat their sweets all the time, but as I got older I couldn't have them anymore. They make me super sick now. I never thought that it could be due to a recipe change, but now that other users have said something, it may be that. o.o

Either way, about the strike - there have been a lot of issues with Hostess in the past couple of years. From what I've heard they've been messing around with the workers and taking more and more from them (probably because it was looking like they were going to go under at some point pretty soon, so they were taking from who they could take from without losing the top execs' money, I'm guessing), so the workers' strike was just the final nail in the company's coffin.

[Valkyrie]

It may be the recipe change, or it could just be your body saying it doesn't like them anymore, period.

As much as it sucks, and as much as people will blame the unions for the loss of our beloved Twinkies and Cupcakes and Ho-Hos...at the same time, keep calm and stay cool. There's always more to the story than just "those stupid unions." Yes, they're the ones who said they didn't want to make any other concessions. But honestly? When haven't we seen examples of this before, such as with the NFL and NHL lockouts? It's not always so simple.

[Prayer Police]

Ran out of Twinkies at every store I went to today.
But able to snag a apple Fruit Pie. Those are better anyway.

[Agatha]

OMG, no! I totally forgot that Hostess makes fruit pies!

Alas that these evil days should be mine. T_T

[-JUNK-]

Enjoy the little things.

and this

This post has been edited by -JUNK-: 16 November 2012 - 01:47 PM

[Kyuu]

TheStrongJaeger, on 16 November 2012 - 11:54 AM, said:

Thanks for ruining something else unions. :\

http://recessappoint...r-your-failures

If I were to blame this union on something, it's for setting themselves up as the scapegoat. This worker strike was just a nail in the coffin, after several years of bankruptcy history.

Businesses do not fail because of Unions. They fail because of bad business models. The power of a union regarding a company's direction may have some effect. However, it is the executive decision making, that has a much greater impact. These executives were leaders of the company and lead it downward. The company failed to keep up with the times, and it ultimately fails.

Welcome to the Free Market.

This post has been edited by Kyuu: 16 November 2012 - 02:16 PM

[KirbyFanOne]

Union problems or not, how in the name of Dog do you, a snack cake maker, in one of the fattest, most unhealthy nations on the third planet from the sun, GO OUT OF BUSINESS?

This would be like boat makers going out of business during events similar to Water World. Unless of course... no it can't be... are we, the United States, actually...

Spoiler

...watching what we eat?

[Keiichi-chan]

dammit, obama.

[Valkyrie]

KirbyFanOne, on 16 November 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

Union problems or not, how in the name of Dog do you, a snack cake maker, in one of the fattest, most unhealthy nations on the third planet from the sun, GO OUT OF BUSINESS?

This would be like boat makers going out of business during events similar to Water World. Unless of course... no it can't be... are we, the United States, actually...

Spoiler

...watching what we eat?

True story...it's one reason why I actually passed up the last couple boxes of Cupcakes at the store earlier.

The other reason is that I only had a handful of bucks left (just lost my job - no, it wasn't for Hostess), and it was either spend it on fruit, or on Cupcakes. As much as I like Cupcakes, I prefer my oranges and bananas when on a carefully rationed diet. ^^;;

[Gwydion]

This makes me kind of sad in a nostalgic sort of way... Now I feel like having a Twinkie - something I haven't had in probably a decade.

[Dark Stranger]

Kinda sad, but I don't think the shevles will be empty from hostess going out of business. Hell, someone call disney! Got some great snacks for their fans to watch their new star wars movies. +1 to marketing. lol

[jsieczkar]

Hostess Brands, Inc. problems go back to how the company grew for years which was by buying smaller bakeries but never really integrating them. For decades these bakeries operated as little fiefdoms largely looking out for their own interests and were told that this was an issue as far back as the 80's. Interstate Bakeries (former name of Hostess Brands) bought Continental Baking in 1991 the makers of the Hostess products, despite having completely dissimilar business cultures and took years to kinda integrate the systems. The company lost massive market share in the 90's to aggressive snack food competitors namely Frito-Lay who capitalized on the increased interest in "healthier" foods, Interstate Bakeries did nothing. When they declared bankruptcy for the first time they spent virtually all the company capital to fight off a take over by Grupo Bimbo, when they exited bankruptcy in 2009 they were massively in debt to GE Captial and had barely touched the real issues facing the company. In just over 2 years they were back in bankruptcy with a distribution system that was out of date in the 80's, bakeries that were in most cases 40 years old, a debt load they couldn't pay off and an ownership group that knew nothing about the industry. Hostess Brands, Inc. is a classic case of a company that rested on what it had done, failed to take action on known issues and basically lived in a fantasy land regarding its market. The Union strike after the company went into bankruptcy was just another straw in the pile.

[Cherry_Wolf]

I haven't had Hostess products in yeeeears. I'm more sad of them leaving because of nostalgia.

But like everyone else has stated - does really mean the end of Hostess? Someone else will either pick up the slack or buy the name. If anything else, Little Debbie's snack cakes will become more prosperous now. (they are usually cheaper anyways)

And as much as I find it sad that they are leaving, is it really a bad thing? I mean - for job wise - yes. But if it's a worker's strike, then it was by choice. But as a snack factory in a country made up of people dealing with an overweight epidemic... maybe this isn't entirely a bad thing?

Either way, Hostess will be missed.

[NinjaJedi007]

I also hope that someone will buy the name. It's crazy to think that, in the future, kids in the lunchroom might not know what a Twinkie is

Little Debbie is superior anyway! I will never betray my delicious Nutty Bars and Oatmeal Cream Pies!!

[Aiddon Valentin]

we all realize that SOMEBODY is gonna buy the recipes for the company's products, right?

[Unlucky Slayer]

Cherry_Wolf, on 17 November 2012 - 02:54 AM, said:

I haven't had Hostess products in yeeeears. I'm more sad of them leaving because of nostalgia.

But like everyone else has stated - does really mean the end of Hostess? Someone else will either pick up the slack or buy the name. If anything else, Little Debbie's snack cakes will become more prosperous now. (they are usually cheaper anyways)

And as much as I find it sad that they are leaving, is it really a bad thing? I mean - for job wise - yes. But if it's a worker's strike, then it was by choice. But as a snack factory in a country made up of people dealing with an overweight epidemic... maybe this isn't entirely a bad thing?

Either way, Hostess will be missed.

From what the company wanted to take away from the union, it was easily worth a strike. If the companies would manage themselves better it wouldnt come to actions like this.

[Dark Stranger]

What did they want to take away though? I haven't followed it that closey to see.

[Tiamat97]

there are people selling hostess treats on ebay for outrageous amounts of money and people are so desperate that they are bidding on these items. a box of twinkies is currently going for about $75

[Agatha]

A Twinkie lunchbox sold for $600-something yesterday, too - after having been up for a week with no bids at $14.

[Unlucky Slayer]

Dark Stranger, on 17 November 2012 - 11:39 AM, said:

What did they want to take away though? I haven't followed it that closey to see.

http://features.blog...on-deal/?iid=EL

http://money.cnn.com....html?hpt=hp_t2

While not as bad as the "offer" (read: mugging) that Mittal had proposed to its unions back in August, it is still easily enough to strike over considering what Management didnt do to prevent bankruptcy.

This post has been edited by Unlucky Slayer: 17 November 2012 - 12:36 PM

[XenoBlade]

Kyuu, on 16 November 2012 - 02:09 PM, said:

http://recessappoint...r-your-failures

If I were to blame this union on something, it's for setting themselves up as the scapegoat. This worker strike was just a nail in the coffin, after several years of bankruptcy history.

Businesses do not fail because of Unions. They fail because of bad business models. The power of a union regarding a company's direction may have some effect. However, it is the executive decision making, that has a much greater impact. These executives were leaders of the company and lead it downward. The company failed to keep up with the times, and it ultimately fails.

Welcome to the Free Market.

This this this

[KungPowKirby]

Going on a zingers hunt tonight!!