Twinkies return ... now "fat free"

The Twinkie Returns, With Less Baggage

Excerpt:

As more than 50 million Twinkies start making their way to stores next week, the first order of business for the 83-year-old brand's new owner is to let customers know a classic is back. But behind the return of the familiar cream-filled sponge cake is a leaner operation, free of the union labor and the $1.3 billion in debt that saddled the brand's previous owners. With that clean slate, the new owner and chief executive, C. Dean Metropoulos, plans to launch into an ambitious growth plan and avoid the problems that led to two Chapter 11 bankruptcies, the last of which ended in liquidation.

... The previous distribution system involved roughly 6,000 drivers—all with union wages and pension benefits— delivering products to stores and placing them on shelves. The old Hostess distribution was governed by complicated work rules that required drivers to deliver bread and cakes on separate trucks, adding costs. Those delivery routes also reached only 50,000 of the country's roughly 150,000 convenience stores, and left some pockets around the country entirely without Twinkies.

Comment: Free from:

• Union rules
• Inefficient plants
• Debt
• Excess capacity: 11 factories at 50% capacity to 4 factories at 90% capacity

Business Plan: Import Twinkies from Egypt ... sell on Ebay

Despite US woes, Twinkies reign supreme on the Nile

Excerpt:

....in Egypt – and most other Arab countries – Twinkies are popular treats that sell themselves.

Twinkies and Ho Hos are so popular that the local producer, Edita, no longer bothers to advertise and the treats still bring in a sweet 47 percent of the company's profit. Edita markets to the Arab Gulf, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon and is expanding to other countries.

"It is our top seller. Everybody buys it!" said Mohamed Sarwat, who works at the Mecca Market in Ismailia, Egypt, where Twinkies have pride of place behind the counter.

Comment: Edita website (image above). My idea has as much merit as The Bottle Deposit.

As the Twinkie Turns

Twinkie's last stand: It's up to a mediator

Excerpt:

Twinkie the Kid’s ride into the sunset hit a hurdle Monday when Hostess Brands, unions and lenders agreed to mediation to try to save the company, and its spongy, yellow cake, from liquidation.

The decision staves off, for a couple of days at least, Hostess’ plans to shut down its 33 factories and lay off 18,500 workers after an acrimonious labor dispute that could lead to the end of the 82-year-old company and its well-known brands such as Twinkies, Ho-Hos, Sno-Balls and Wonder bread.

During the hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain urged the parties to come to an agreement through mediation rather than through a public, and costly, hearing. The court called a short recess while the lawyer for the baker's union phoned his client to see if the union would agree to a mediation process tomorrow.

After the recess, the sides agreed to a mediation session Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET to try to work things out. If they can't resolve it, and come to an understanding of the underlying motives behind the worker strike that the company said crippled its business, the bankruptcy hearing will resume Wednesday at 11 a.m ET.

The sides will probably come to an agreement on Tuesday, John Pottow, a bankruptcy law professor at the University of Michigan, told TODAY. The biggest sign, he said, is that the Teamsters were on board.

"The Teamsters aren't pussycats," said Pottow. "If they're saying 'this is as good as it gets,' that's a pretty strong signal to me."

Comment: The following article may be premature but still interesting

Who Killed Hostess?

The list:

1. The Bakers Union at the Negotiating Table with a Picket Sign
2. Management at the Executive Suite with a Checkbook (the counter-narrative )
3. The Free Market at the Grocery Store with Competition: Hostess's sales last year — $2.5 billion — were down about 11% from 2008 and down 28% from 2004
4. The Sugar Lobby in the Halls of Congress with Tariffs (this one has an interesting angle!
5. Rich People on Giant Yachts with Their Armies of Servants

Comment: It's probably a combination of 1,2,3,4. I don't know anyone who buys the junk food from Hostess

"Chris" Christie Plausible deniability on Twinkies

Question: Did he buy the last Twinkie today? The shelves are empty!

Twinkies Madness

Mara Schiavocampo: I bought a 'lifetime supply' of Twinkies
Excerpt:

In just a few days, a box of 100 Twinkies will arrive at my house. Given that I eat one Twinkie — maybe two — each year, these should last at least 50 years. That's the point. I'm stocking up on a lifetime supply of Twinkies.

Comment: Head over to Ebay and do a search. I mean these people are nuts! Kathee heading out to the grocery store (our local Lunds) ... I asked to visually scan for Twinkies and other Hostess Brands. Looking over this list I don't think we buy any of them ... perhaps Butternut bread at times. Kathee (I think she is lying!) said she has never eaten a Twinkie! (so a lifetime supply for Kathee would be an eternity!)

Nationalize the Twinkie industry?

Petition wants Obama to save Twinkies

The petition: Nationalize the Twinkie industry

Comments: Why not? We "saved" GM for the Unions and Chrysler for Fiat (both bad ideas! Both should have gone through formal bankruptcy without government intervention.) Meanwhile consider my earlier post about Twinkies where I spoke too soon! Final: Obama won't nationalize Twinkies because Michelle with her healthy eating campaign would veto it!

Twinkies in Pop Culture

Sugar Drops: 10 Pop Culture Moments for Twinkies

Comment: My wife has never had a Twinkie!

Twinkies and Volts

Hostess and the GM Bailout: Why the Chevy Volt Shouldn't Exist but Twinkies Still Will
Excerpt:

The fact that the Invisible Hand will ultimately keep us in golden sponge cake reveals everything about what goes wrong when the bumbling hand of politics intervenes in free markets, as it did in the case of General Motors

...

Dry your creme-puffed eyes, my friends. The spongy confections with all the qualities of tasty blown-in foam insulation will almost certainly not disappear from store shelves for very long, if at all. Why not? Because the economics of selling Twinkies still work just fine. The economics of making Twinkies with a grumpy, highly unionized labor force don't. And our system can and will correct that.

Comment: Question: Why didn't Obama bail out Interstate Brands? Answer: GM shouldn't have been bailed out