Twinkies in peril

Posted Friday, November 16, 2012, at 8:07 AM

Hostess, the company which makes the Twinkie and other snack cakes, says it is shutting down as the result of a labor dispute.

Assuming that the company does go out of business, I'm sure that some other company will purchase the Twinkies recipe and brand name, and the product will be back on the market sooner rather than later. But in the meantime, they may be in short supply.

I usually get into more trouble with salty snacks than sweet ones, and I can't remember the last time I bought a Twinkie. But this still seems kind of sad. Do you think people will hoard them while waiting for them to return?

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i'm not a twinkie man myself...

do you have any inside information about the future of ho-ho's and ding-dongs?

-- Posted by lazarus on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 9:15 AM

Same company, so presumably the same thing -- they'll be going away unless / until either a) the company is just bluffing and doesn't really shut down, or b) the recipes and brand names are sold to someone else, and surely they would be eventually.

-- Posted by jcarney on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 9:36 AM

And here I have been scoffing at the people who acted like the world would end after the election. But can any of us really even imagine a world without Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs?

-- Posted by lazarus on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 11:04 AM

Made me chuckle.I remember the movie Woody Harrelson was in ,Zombieland where he was searching for Twinkies.I hope no one goes to those extremes to find one.

-- Posted by mytaxesaremine on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 12:57 PM

There was a story on the web for a little while, from a Chattanooga web site, that a company in Chattanooga was about to buy the Twinkie brand. But the supposed AP story didn't look like a real AP story to me, and -- sure enough -- by the time I got back to the original story it had been replaced by a retraction.

-- Posted by jcarney on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 2:27 PM

Hostess memorabilia is selling like...twinkies on eBay.

"A lunch box featuring "Twinkie the Kid," a cartoon cowboy character that bears a striking resemblance to the iconic yellow cake, fetched a winning bid of $690 on Friday, after Hostess said it was seeking permission from a federal bankruptcy court to close down all its bakeries."

http://consumerist.com/2012/11/16/hostes...

-- Posted by stevemills on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 3:37 PM

Maybe twinkies will come back. One of my favorite pigout candies is Reese's peanut butter cup. One day I was curious about the ingredients and put on my 50X reading glasses. With these glasses I could watch a man walk around on the moon. WOW, The candy is "mfg in Mexico for H.B. Reese Candy Company/A division of the Hershey Company." Uh Oh, no unions, no strike and all quiet on the Mexican candy front. But I do feel sorry for the workers, who have homes, children, etc to provide for. Also all the investors that lost money in the stock.

-- Posted by Grits on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 4:38 PM

HELP! I rushed over to Super Foods to stock up on Twinkies and the shelf was empty. The store clerk said it was Bush's fault.

-- Posted by Grits on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 6:31 PM

It would seem it wouldn't be out of line for the Obama administration to step in and save the Ho-Ho. Or, would it not have been just as likely that other companies would have bought out the profitable product lines of another long establish company that was near bankruptcy? I am speaking of GM and the auto bail-outs of course, but why should the Twinkie be any different than the Cadi.?

-- Posted by Liveforlight on Fri, Nov 16, 2012, at 6:40 PM

Obama doesn't need to buy their votes now. Americans will no longer have Ding Dongs or enjoy them in their mouths.

-- Posted by cortnerkin on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 1:48 AM

I hate twinkies but it is sad to see so many people lose their job but the union employees caused that to themselves. They knew the company was in bankruptcy and went on strike anyway and demanded more and now they have no jobs. Seems pretty stupid on their part.

-- Posted by jaxspike on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 2:14 AM

There is also talk of employees at Wal-Mart nationwide walking out Black Friday for better benefits and wages. Here is a novel idea . . . if you want a better job or to make more money then FIND ANOTHER JOB. And lets be honest, every time I go to the Wal-Mart here in Shelbyville I can barely get anyone to help me or even get the cashier to even bother to tell me the total on my purchase. Granted I think our Wal-Mart is one of the worse ones I have been to when it comes to customer service but why should this kind of work ethic be rewarded with higher wages?

-- Posted by jaxspike on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 2:29 AM

Are Wal-Mart employees unionized? If not, is there anything to protect them from Wal-Mart firing them?

If they chose one of the biggest profit days to walk out, I would see that as an obvious lack of concern about the welfare of the company that provides them with whatever income they get.

I have seen Wal-Marts where the employees greet me or offer assistance throughout the store and others who act as described by jaxspike. In my experience, it is a reflection of management, not corporate edicts

On the other hand, I also know what pressures are on employees to respond to demanding production standards with less and less payroll to accomplish it.

This IS pressure from corporate management with an end result of low moral, buckling down to get the job done and a resulting loss of human interaction with the customer (poor customer service).

-- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 8:03 AM

Sorry John, got a little off-topic regarding Twinkies.

-- Posted by stevemills on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 8:05 AM

I think it's pretty safe to say that the absence of the Twinkie will not have the crushing effect that the loss of the U.S. Auto Industry would have on our economy. I hear Little Debbie is hiring. But my guess is that Hostess will be back, just under a different name and operating procedures. They will start over and model themselves after Wal-mart and Papa Johns Pizza. Collect huge amounts of money but pay your workers next to nothing. Also work them 38 or 39 hours a week, so they can still be considered "part time" employees, and don't get any benefits or health insurance. Ah yes.... the American dream. The owner of Papa Johns has a 40,000 sq. foot mansion with its own private golf course and a 22 car garage. But he says he can't afford the .14 cents per pizza it would cost to supply his employees with some basic health insurance. What a guy.

-- Posted by Rocket Valentine on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 8:13 AM

If they stopped making Moon Pies, then I would really by upset. It is sometimes hard to find them in Plano, Texas. I would not rush out to find Twinkies.

-- Posted by cookie on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 8:34 AM

I agree cookie . . . Twinkies are the nastiest tasting things I have ever eaten but a Moon Pie is divine. :-)

-- Posted by jaxspike on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 1:07 PM

Dear Rocket Valentine,

Americans are free to start their own enterprises and make their own fortune if they are disgruntled with the management style of their employer. No one is being forced to continue working for anyone else, so far as I know.

Up until now, that's been the beauty of America, if someone wants a 40,000 square foot mansion, go, be enterprising, start a company, work hard until it makes sense to sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor, and stop whining about why the man with the initiative gets to keep part of what he earned.

-- Posted by dmcg on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 1:19 PM

John Schnatter founder and CEO of Papa Johns sold

everything he had to start his business.He worked by himself, made,sold and delivered his pizzas.He worked hard and made his fortune on his own.As for adding 14 cents to get employee insurance he only owns 30% of his business.The rest are franchised.Wonder how a Twinkie pizza would taste?

-- Posted by kings11 on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 6:29 PM

There is no difference in bailing out a car company than bailing out a snack company from a business perspective. Other companies will buy up the aasets and other hard working enterprising people would be successful. Remember American Motors Corp. (AMC)? They sold out to other companies who bought up the equipment and brands, like JEEP, and continue filling the demand. That is the way a free market and capitalism works.

What is different is the number of people/votes that the Unions brought into the Democratic party by funding their overburdening labor rate, pensions and benefits packages with our tax dollars. "Too big to fail" means we can buy more loyalty/power with one transaction. They have, in effect, placed a band-aid on a severed limb. It will slow the bleeding, but not for long.

Twinkies or something similar will be made and sold either by Hostess or some other company/brand as long as there is demand and a means to produce them. The bldgs. equipment, and skilled labor is not going to just vanish into thin air because of bankruptcy. GM is no different, There will always be Chevrolets as long as there is demand and a means to produce them. Bankruptcy does not destroy the demand or the means. It only forces the means to change ownership. Our government can't even balance a budget with virtually unlimited resources. They certainly don't need to be owning/running a car or twinkie company. It wouldn;t suprise me one bit however to see it happen,, again. Just think of the Kudos from the press.

-- Posted by Liveforlight on Sat, Nov 17, 2012, at 8:30 PM

Somewhere over the rainbow, Moon Pies hide. I'll bet somewhere an Angel up high is piggy out on my favorite Moon Pie. I'll wish upon a star, and wonder where the pies are. I know it won't help, but I'll just cry, until someone will bring me a Moon Pie.

-- Posted by Grits on Sun, Nov 18, 2012, at 1:06 PM

They bailed out Chrysler and GM but couldn't save Twinkies? What's the world coming to? Next thing you know they'll up and cancel Spongebob.

Dang-It!

-- Posted by Tim Lokey on Sun, Nov 18, 2012, at 6:42 PM

If you squeeze a piece of Twinkie down to a small ball the size of a marble and put a #6 hook in it and cast it out into Normandy lake, you can have catfish for dinner! It must contain some of the same ingredients as a hot dog.....

-- Posted by chefgrape on Sun, Nov 18, 2012, at 11:26 PM

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