[LWC]

.

[TheRealVille]

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: Multiple news outlets are reporting that Hostess and the company’s second-largest union have agreed to mediation, possibly avoiding liquidation.

News reports that Hostess Brands will file for bankruptcy and plans to sell off iconic American brands like Wonder Bread and Twinkies have mostly centered on the debilitating fight between the company and one of its largest unions. But there’s a bigger reason Hostess is disappearing.

While Hostess Brands makes a host of desserts and snacks — most famously Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho-Hos — the company is primarily a breadmaker, and its flagship loaf is Wonder Bread.

For decades, Wonder Bread was perhaps the most recognizable brand of sliced bread in the U.S. It’s the only brand that’s ever truly been national. It’s as American as a white picket fence. And in grocery stores throughout the country, it’s ubiquitous. Since the 1950s and ’60s, toast has been a staple of most breakfasts, while bread has been on the dinner table in almost every household.

Gradually, though, our diets have changed and our consumer preferences have shifted. Almost 95% of Americans still eat bread at least once every two weeks, according to food-industry-analysis firm NPD Group. But instead of just toast in the morning, we now have a multitude of options for breakfast: frozen waffles, toaster pastries, energy bars and, especially, yogurt.

“Yogurt’s been the problem,” says Harry Balzer, NPD Group’s chief industry analyst. “There are so many more options at breakfast, but yogurt is affecting everything because it’s very convenient.” Balzer says 45 million more Americans are eating yogurt today than 10 years ago, when only 17% of the population was buying the product. Now almost a third of Americans eat it.

Americans’ dinner preferences have changed too, with more and more opting for one-dish meals, says Balzer. Pizza, casseroles, pasta — anything that is quick and simple is what is sought after work, and the tradition of bread as a side dish is diminishing. Believe it or not, NPD Group tracks the percentage of U.S. households that include a side dish of bread at dinner. In 1984 it was 11%. Today it’s 7%.

“Dinner is changing,” says Balzer. “We spend 24 minutes eating dinner. It’s become less and less and less. So we’re always looking at where we can save time or money.”

Similarly, energy bars have become wildly popular over the past several years, not only as a snack but also as part of breakfast or lunch. And tortillas have become the second most popular bread type in the country, according to the Tortilla Industry Association; there’s been a 3.6% increase in tortilla revenues each year on average since 2007.

To a lesser extent, Americans have also become much more health conscious, which has hurt sales for companies like Hostess that make highly caloric, sugary products. Meanwhile, fitness-based industries are bringing in more and more revenue, according to Agata Kaczanowska, an industry analyst at IBIS World.

Hostess appears to have gotten stuck somewhere in the 1960s and never really recovered. It failed to innovate. It rarely advertised. It didn’t successfully market itself. And it didn’t contemporize its products.

“Their heritage legacy brands that have been around forever have not kept up with the times,” says Bob Goldin, executive vice president of Technomic, a food-industry-analysis firm.

Goldin cites the growth of in-store bakeries that often sell fresher bread than presliced commercial loaves. “Commercial bread has become kind of an economy item,” he says. “In-store bakeries have that image of freshness and quality that consumers are looking for.”

It’s possible that some of Hostess’s brands will survive. The company will be selling off those brands in the coming months. But many of them are likely to wither away right along with old eating habits.

“The industry has shifted,” says Goldin. “Some of them have a chance of surviving. But it’s hard to fathom how many will be relevant going forward.”

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/11/19/the-...z2ChhIEvCz

[TheRealVille]

^ And a bad management.

[Westside]

Where did the other thread go?

[LWC]

^It got too far away from the subject. So I created a new twinkie thread. It was not deleted, just closed.

[Spud6]

Never ate one.

[Wildcatk23]

Never ate one.

Me neither.

[TheRealVille]

Never ate one.

They are one of the most unhealthy things you can eat.

[Wildcatk23]

They are one of the most unhealthy things you can eat.

Your such a communist.

[WideRight05]

They are one of the most unhealthy things you can eat.

Your such a communist.

I'm sure you two enjoy patting each other on the behind. nicker:

[Spud6]

I had a teacher once in middle school who would hide them in his desk drawers. And when he was out of the classroom my buddies would go up there and steal a couple. But I was always the good kid who was afraid to go to the principal. Lol

[RunItUpTheGut]

Anyone ever had a deep fried twinkie?
Somebody made one for me back in high school and it was awesome, but i can only imagine the calories in it.

[TheRealVille]

^ I saw them frying them on TV once, on one of those food channel type shows. My wife and some other mothers made them at a ballgame once, but I wouldn't try one. It's been about 20 years since I've even had a regular Twinkie.

[Downtown10]

I'm sure you two enjoy patting each other on the behind. nicker:

nicker:

[judgementday]

As the theory goes, Twinkies would be the only food that could survive a nuclear fallout....I liked Twinkies but didn't eat them often.

What I am going to miss most is the miniature chocolate and powered covered donuts.....

[Bob Seger]

As the theory goes, Twinkies would be the only food that could survive a nuclear fallout....I liked Twinkies but didn't eat them often.

What I am going to miss most is the miniature chocolate and powered covered donuts.....

I dont think you're going to have to worry about that. Even if an agreement cannot be made in the current mediation process, there will a company somewhere pick up the rights to produce Hostess products and Wonder Bread. If an agreement cannot be reached, look for the Mexican (yeah, Mexican) conglomerate, Bimbo, to resume the Hostess line of products.Those items (in the long term) are not going anywhere. Much ado about nothing here for those that are fearing they'll never be getting a Twinkie again...

[Bob Seger]

It has been reported that mediation has failed to reach an agreement. The company will now proceed to Chapter 7 liquidation.

[RunItUpTheGut]

^ I saw them frying them on TV once, on one of those food channel type shows. My wife and some other mothers made them at a ballgame once, but I wouldn't try one. It's been about 20 years since I've even had a regular Twinkie.

There great.

[vundy33]

I've tried every fried twinkie you can think of tailgating...we roasted them in Afg. I love em, already have 10 boxes saved up.

Don't eat them alot, because I'm a health freak, but I love them lol.

[Stardust]

^ I thought you more as a Ding-Dong's lover, but I guess anything long and slender with a white cream filling will satisfy you.....nicker:




[Image: http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/20....jpg?w=300]

[OffTheHook]

no twinkies in paintsville !!!!!!!

[RunItUpTheGut]

^
The hostess store here in Corbin shut down.
They had 50% off everything in the store and cars were lined up nicker:

Personally, im not a big fan of cakes, im getting old and fat as it is.

I heard someone today mention that mediation failed and Hostess is going out for good with bankruptcy. Is this true? Did the union ask for a huge pay increase or something?

[vundy33]

^ I thought you more as a Ding-Dong's lover, but I guess anything long and slender with a white cream filling will satisfy you.....nicker:




[Image: http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/20....jpg?w=300]

I prefer a pink, messy pie that has plenty of white cream filling that flows out of it...

[OffTheHook]

^Snow Balls? ..... :biggrin:

[Spirit100]

Dusty, Vundy, and Hook need to goto church with LWC on Sunday and prolly next Wednesday as well.

Make sure the lightning rods are properly grounded...

[LWC]

Dusty, Vundy, and Hook need to goto church with LWC on Sunday and prolly next Wednesday as well.

Make sure the lightning rods are properly grounded...

They are more than welcome, it might be a long drive but still, they are welcome.

[TheRealVille]

^
The hostess store here in Corbin shut down.
They had 50% off everything in the store and cars were lined up nicker:

Personally, im not a big fan of cakes, im getting old and fat as it is.

I heard someone today mention that mediation failed and Hostess is going out for good with bankruptcy. Is this true? Did the union ask for a huge pay increase or something?

No, they refused an 8% cut in pay, and a cut in their pension.

[RunItUpTheGut]

No, they refused an 8% cut in pay, and a cut in their pension.

I had heard on the news, and surprisingly it wasnt Fox, that the Union there had asked for over an 8% pay increase.