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Twinkie maker files for bankruptcy.
I have to confess, when I'm upset or stressed out, I don't choke my tears down with a pint of ice cream. Instead, my favorite go-to stress snack is Hostess Sno-Balls. If you haven't seen them before, the are basically a ball of chocolate cake with the signature creamy filling. The top is coated with a layer of marshmallow and toasted coconut. They come with two in a pack and depending on the season, the coconut can be colored pink, purple, white, orange, green and even blue. They are horrible for me and they certainly don't help me reach my weight loss goals. I try to avoid the temptation, but sometimes I just have to grab some.
Although they are harder to find these days, I always figured that Hostess snack cakes would always be around. However, as many of you who are looking for jobs know, it's tough out there. The economy is tight and many companies that have been around for a long time have gone under. Now, Hostess Brands, the company that makes Twinkies, Wonder Bread and my beloved Sno-Balls has announced that they have filled for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.
Over the past decade, the sale of these familiar snack cakes has gone down as Americans have been making strides toward a healthier diet. Even the famous Wonder Bread has been declining in sales. In fact, in a survey last year, only 36 percent of people said that they ate white bread in their homes. This is a huge decrease from the 54 percent in 2000.
In addition to the decline in the sales of snack cakes, Hostess Brands says that they are facing more competition for the dwindling market share. Other snack cake makers like Entenmanns, Little Debbie and Sara Lee have grown and have made a huge impact on Hostess's overall sales. This might be true, but as a Sno-Ball addict, I'll tell you that finding Hostess snack cakes has been difficult over the past five years. It used to be that I would see individual Hostess products at almost any gas station, convenience store and grocery store. Lately, most stores only stock Entenmann's along with the occasional Tastycake. Although the grocery store typically stocks Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes and the ocassional Sno-Ball in boxes, I don't usually buy them that way, because if I do, I will eat every last one of them, which is never good. I prefer my guilty pleasure in small doses.
One of the other challenges facing Hostess Brands, according to their representative is that their employees are unionized and they offer good wages, a high pension plan and medical benefits. The company has a total of 19,000 employees and operates in 48 states. Although they aren't announcing layoffs just yet, they have reached out to their unions to try to modify their collective bargaining agreements. They have plans to streamline their process, modernize their systems and fleets.
Although the company isn't down for the count just yet, it is important to note that this is the second bankruptcy filing by the company since 2004. Hostess was originally called Interstate Bakeries, and changed their name to Hostess Brands in 2009.
I hope that the company is able to make a comeback. I would be sad to see Twinkies and Wonder Bread become nothing more than a piece of nostalgia. As for me, I plan on stocking up on Twinkies because their shelf life might be longer than their company's.
What do you think about this news? What do you think Hostess can do to stay competitive? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for BusinessWorkForceBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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