Re: Hostess Brands threatening to liquidate

Hostess warns striking workers of liquidation
http://www.sfgate.com/news/texas/article/Hostess-warns-striking-workers-of-liquidation-4041001.php

There's a strike right now, and the company is threatening to close shop and sell off the brands if the workers don't return to continue production.

Looks like chick-on might have to learn how to make his own Twinkies:

DIY Twinkies: How to Make Them at Home If Hostess Shuts Down

It's ok. I know truck wires are tastey too.


Dis mentioned here

It will be a sad day if this brand goes away though.

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What's the worry? If you really like them, you can buy a couple thousand of them now...and they'll still be good when you're dead

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balzaccom
What's the worry? If you really like them, you can buy a couple thousand of them now...and they'll still be good when you're dead

Of course that's a myth.

The only preservative in most Hostess snack cakes is sorbic acid, and give a few weeks and they'll be too much assorted nasties growing for the preservative to prevent growth. They'll also dry out within a few weeks. Every package has a sell by date of less than four weeks from the time it was made.

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y_p_w

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balzaccom
What's the worry? If you really like them, you can buy a couple thousand of them now...and they'll still be good when you're dead

Of course that's a myth.

The only preservative in most Hostess snack cakes is sorbic acid, and give a few weeks and they'll be too much assorted nasties growing for the preservative to prevent growth. They'll also dry out within a few weeks. Every package has a sell by date of less than four weeks from the time it was made.

Do they freeze well?

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eeek

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y_p_w

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balzaccom
What's the worry? If you really like them, you can buy a couple thousand of them now...and they'll still be good when you're dead

Of course that's a myth.

The only preservative in most Hostess snack cakes is sorbic acid, and give a few weeks and they'll be too much assorted nasties growing for the preservative to prevent growth. They'll also dry out within a few weeks. Every package has a sell by date of less than four weeks from the time it was made.

Do they freeze well?

I'm guessing no. There are a lot of things that just don't freeze well because they're high in water, and ice crystals form. The creamy filling will probably lose its consistency. I remember once thinking it would be a good idea to freeze a large block of cream cheese bought at a restaurant supply house. By the time it thawed out, there was a puddle of water at the bottom and what was left was like mush.

What would probably make it last forever would be gamma irradiation in a hermetically sealed package. That's what NASA does, and their food can actually last for years without refrigeration. While the preservatives in Hostess cakes might inhibit growth for a few months, what will really make them unpalatable is that the packaging is hardly airtight. They'll be chewy and tough within a few weeks.

This is especially true of Cup Cakes.

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Towards the bottom of the article...

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Article About Hostess Petroleum Inc.
Competition is increasing in the snack space and Americans are increasingly conscious about healthy eating.

and...

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Hostess, a privately held company, filed for Chapter 11 protection in January, its second trip through bankruptcy court in less than a decade.

Sounds like they're really saying Pink Chickens aren't buying enough of their product so they'll use the strike as an excuse.

14 Reasons the thought of a World Without Twinkies is so Troubling

I like #13....."Twinkies...always in our hearts...and arteries"

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chick-on

it's for the best. I want a 4th density Chick-on free from GMO's and High Fructose Corn Syrup to be forever our vanguard of the trail (off)

Could this be the end of the trail for Twinkie The Kid?

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PineCone
Could this be the end of the trail for Twinkie The Kid?

No way. Their brands are too valuable. They're simply going to sell off their assets in liquidation.

I would expect a large food company to buy off at least the big brands. Maybe Sara Lee, Kraft, Nestle, or General Mills. The main products (Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Hostess Cupcakes, Wonder Bread) will definitely survive. Not sure about the former Dolly Madison products though.

Of course the first thing they're likely to do is ditch the existing factories and move production to their own plants.

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y_p_w
The main products (Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Hostess Cupcakes, Wonder Bread) will definitely survive.

No, the company that buys them won't be able to not make changes. The brands will still be around; the products won't be the same.

I think that chick-on needs to buy more Twinkies to ensure the health of Hostess.

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eeek
Pushed by a bankruptcy judge eager to save thousands of jobs, Hostess Brands and one of its biggest unions agreed to mediation on Monday, in a last-ditch effort to avoid winding down Hostess, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread. At the behest of the judge, Hostess Brands and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union, which represents 5,600 Hostess workers, will meet with a mediator on Tuesday to try to narrow their differences toward a labor agreement.

Labor is not the problem, management is. They gave themselves a 300% pay raise and then demand pay cuts for the workers.