A blow is struck for the greater good.

[reedo]

hostess has begun liquidation of its poor health empire. is this shooting down a star destroyer or the death star?

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-says-it-will-liquidate/

[wildross]

Another company killed by gold plated union retirement benefits and management stupidity.

[Waldo]

I dunno, hard to survive when branded enemy #1 by the healthy living/eating establishment that has strongly grown in recent years.

Companies in decline never fare well, and public sentiment turned against their products. They failed to adapt to the market, hard to blame labor for that. The writing has been on the wall for a while, surely the union knew by striking they would kill the company.

Honest question, when is the last time anyone here bought one of their products? I used to have a fetish for HoHos, but they got hard as heck to find 5 years ago or so and I pretty much forgot about them, completely losing interest since beginning my fitness journey (at 370 calories per, a HoHo is one of the most egregous abuses of caloric power there is). Wonder bread is the poster child for garbage food passed off as healthy by the whole Atkins/Taubes/Wheat Belly/Paleo/Primal world that currently dominates the judgement of that which is healthy. I would think that the majority of NF's would celebrate their collective success at helping to kill the beast.

[Gobnait]

It's a little bit sad, and I kinda wish that this affected me more. Trouble is that real twinkies don't taste as good as reliving a childhood memory of eating one.

[Kirkor]

I dunno about the greater good, just market forces at work. I'm wistful to see the decline of such a classic icon.

[guest439437484421]

meh.

[Elastigirl]

I dunno, hard to survive when branded enemy #1 by the healthy living/eating establishment that has strongly grown in recent years.

Companies in decline never fare well, and public sentiment turned against their products. They failed to adapt to the market, hard to blame labor for that. The writing has been on the wall for a while, surely the union knew by striking they would kill the company.

Honest question, when is the last time anyone here bought one of their products? I used to have a fetish for HoHos, but they got hard as heck to find 5 years ago or so and I pretty much forgot about them, completely losing interest since beginning my fitness journey (at 370 calories per, a HoHo is one of the most egregous abuses of caloric power there is). Wonder bread is the poster child for garbage food passed off as healthy by the whole Atkins/Taubes/Wheat Belly/Paleo/Primal world that currently dominates the judgement of that which is healthy. I would think that the majority of NF's would celebrate their collective success at helping to kill the beast.

No, I won't rejoice in a company going under and people losing jobs. I would much rather rejoice when people start to want healthier food and companies listen and change their product to fit that demand,

[Waldo]

No, I won't rejoice in a company going under and people losing jobs. I would much rather rejoice when people start to want healthier food and companies listen and change their product to fit that demand,

Unless people are spending less money on food, it should be relatively job neutral. The food chain is labor on top of labor on top of labor. The total amount spent should be able to support a particular employment level, jobs will be created and lost as tastes change, but by and large the total number of jobs in the food industry will not decline as companies go under. That would only occur if there was a decline in aggregate spending on food. Forest through the trees. Hostess' struggles are a clear sign of the nation moving toward eating healthier.

[Elastigirl]

Unless people are spending less money on food, it should be relatively job neutral. The food chain is labor on top of labor on top of labor. The total amount spent should be able to support a particular employment level, jobs will be created and lost as tastes change, but by and large the total number of jobs in the food industry will not decline as companies go under. That would only occur if there was a decline in aggregate spending on food. Forest through the trees. Hostess' struggles are a clear sign of the nation moving toward eating healthier.

Hmmm... interesting point. I see your point thought makes sense. Then I guess I can be happy that people want healthier food. Side note- I haven't had a twinkie or other Hostess treat in about 10 years. To me, the calories they contained were never worth it because they really just don't taste that good.

[wildross]

Except that the new companies tend to be more efficient (ie, do more with fewer people) than the ones that die off (one of the reasons they die off is inefficiency). This has been particularly true in the food industry which has seen relentless standardization and mechanization.

[reedo]

with a union as broad as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. I feel as though any work shortage will be temporary, especially since the purchase of individual hostess brand names is already being speculated about, the twinkie and several other foods will most likely see a vibrant rebirth and more robust market share due to the insane amount of hype this has brought to the brand names.

this is however in the opinion of a construction worker, so what do I know.

[Waldo]

Except that the new companies tend to be more efficient (ie, do more with fewer people) than the ones that die off (one of the reasons they die off is inefficiency). This has been particularly true in the food industry which has seen relentless standardization and mechanization.

And a public that is rejecting this "processing".

[wildross]

I know it seems like 'everyone' is into paleo, eat wholesome,etc...but my observations of other carts at the grocery store would indicate that we are still a minute %.

wildross - warriors count tons, not reps

[Raincloak]

I expect someone will buy up the brand and Twinkie production will resume. Even though partially hydrogenated whatsis has become passe, people still buy the treats by the hundreds of millions. There's money to be made, ergo someone will make it.

in the meantime, I'm faintly amused by the speculation bubble. People here are buying up all the Hostess snacks on the shelves, plotting to sell them on eBay!

personally I won't miss them either way, because I never got in the habit of eating them. When I was a kid they were made with lard (not kosher). Now they're made with, I dunno, beef fat or something, but my tastebuds outgrew them before I got hooked. I tried one some years ago and just didn't see what all the fuss was about.

[Zorch]

Honest question, when is the last time anyone here bought one of their products? I used to have a fetish for HoHos, but they got hard as heck to find 5 years ago or so and I pretty much forgot about them, completely losing interest since beginning my fitness journey (at 370 calories per, a HoHo is one of the most egregous abuses of caloric power there is). Wonder bread is the poster child for garbage food passed off as healthy by the whole Atkins/Taubes/Wheat Belly/Paleo/Primal world that currently dominates the judgement of that which is healthy. I would think that the majority of NF's would celebrate their collective success at helping to kill the beast.

I'm sure someone will buy up the rights to make/sell some of their best-known products(Twinkies/Wonder Bread) regardless. Particularly Wonder Bread, which unlike Twinkies and Ho-Ho's, is much more than just a punchline, and could contribute sales value on name recognition alone even if it were tied to an entirely different product.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I found references to a "Bakers' union" to be kind of odd - I expect that there is very little human involvement in the "Baking" that goes on at Hostess' facilities, and that most of the "Bakers" are probably technicians/tradespersons that keep the industrial mixers/ovens running properly.

[Gobnait]

Either way, problem solved: http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/blogs/make-your-own-hostess-treats

[jdcole]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua3uewlb6rs

[Atalan]

Mostly, I'm waiting for the flood of tasks for me to go into grocery stores and buy all the Hostess products to get them off the shelves for whatever company bought that particular brand (this is, in my experience, the most common way food products are dealt with when a company buys another). Then the next round of tasks to reset the sections where Hostess used to be.

Basically, Hostess going under could make a lot of work for me at a time when I don't get much work.

[notcreative]

I can't remember the last time I bought any of their treats. I'm not really surprised or upset that they're going out of business.

I also think it's interesting that when a person gets very into fitness and being healthy, and chooses to surround themselves with like-minded people, it's sometimes easy to forget that this is still not the norm.

[Jcannon98188]

I dunno, hard to survive when branded enemy #1 by the healthy living/eating establishment that has strongly grown in recent years.

Companies in decline never fare well, and public sentiment turned against their products. They failed to adapt to the market, hard to blame labor for that. The writing has been on the wall for a while, surely the union knew by striking they would kill the company.

Honest question, when is the last time anyone here bought one of their products? I used to have a fetish for HoHos, but they got hard as heck to find 5 years ago or so and I pretty much forgot about them, completely losing interest since beginning my fitness journey (at 370 calories per, a HoHo is one of the most egregous abuses of caloric power there is). Wonder bread is the poster child for garbage food passed off as healthy by the whole Atkins/Taubes/Wheat Belly/Paleo/Primal world that currently dominates the judgement of that which is healthy. I would think that the majority of NF's would celebrate their collective success at helping to kill the beast.

used to go to a camp that bought $5,000 worth of their products a year. It was amazing

[Raikas]

Honest question, when is the last time anyone here bought one of their products? I used to have a fetish for HoHos, but they got hard as heck to find 5 years ago or so and I pretty much forgot about them, completely losing interest since beginning my fitness journey (at 370 calories per, a HoHo is one of the most egregous abuses of caloric power there is). Wonder bread is the poster child for garbage food passed off as healthy by the whole Atkins/Taubes/Wheat Belly/Paleo/Primal world that currently dominates the judgement of that which is healthy. I would think that the majority of NF's would celebrate their collective success at helping to kill the beast.

Eh, I'll admit to buying those cupcake things once in a while. They're hardly health food, but I'm not an absolutist when it comes to diet, so it doesn't bother me (it's a different producer/different recipe here, but it's still junk).

Various Hostess-branded products (not twinkies, but most of the others) are owned/produced by two different companies (so wonderbread and the snack cakes have separate owners) here in Canada, and they're surviving. From the articles I've seen it looks like it was more about business practices than anything else (although responding to health trends is part of that, but certainly not the whole story). The idea of celebrating it as a success for the fitness/health scene seems a little far from the truth to me. And in any case, as Atalan said, someone else will probably buy out the brand, so I'd be surprised not to continue seeing those same products staying on the shelves in the US as well.