11-16-2012, 10:54 AM | #1 |
時の彼方へ
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Location: Lafayette, Indiana
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No More Twinkies
CNN
Wikipedia Perhaps, perhaps not. The company did go bankrupt once before in 2004. Perhaps someone will pick them up and they'll be back in business again by next year. Oooooor ... perhaps not. The #1 reason for their sorry financial state, reports indicate, is drastically reduced consumption of their products by a public which is more health-conscious than ever before. Speaking for myself, I am fairly positive that I have not had a nibble of a Hostess dessert in the last ten years ... and I'm fairly certain that the number of times I've purchased a box of a product of their competitor's, Little Debbie, in the past ten years is no more than ten times (or only once a year), the last time being at least three years ago, possibly more. So, speaking for myself, I could definitely see Hostess staying down for the count this go-around. But who knows, who knows. Hard to imagine the Indiana State Fair relinquishing its obesity-catering tradition of offering deep-fried Twinkies to a willing public.
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11-16-2012, 11:09 AM | #2 |
Problematic Fave
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Bye, Twinkies
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11-16-2012, 11:56 AM | #3 |
The hostess with the mostess
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I guess Twinkies don't last forever.
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11-16-2012, 12:27 PM | #4 |
Dragon's Tears
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I don't think I've ever actually had a Twinkie.
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11-16-2012, 03:43 PM | #7 |
Double Dragon
Join Date: Nov 2011
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I like Little Debbie's much better for the most part, but still, Twinkies are good... hope they get back in business.
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11-16-2012, 04:23 PM | #8 |
我が名は勇者王!
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Bad marketing/distribution killed this company. I see Wonderbread in grocery stores, but it isn't often that I come face to face with other Hostess confections, and even if I am there are other options available that are more enticing (candy bars/doughnuts).
I don't buy that claim that health-conscious people killed sales. Hostess deliberately limited its reach to Hostess stores or grocery stores, places where people are less likely to purchase snacks. The semi-perishable nature of their baked goods mean that people will opt for a fresher option (doughnut) or one with more shelf-life (candy) when given comparable price. I never saw Hostess vending machines, or Hostess products available at hotels through continental breakfast (many hotels have partnerships with companies such as Otis Spunkmeyer). With such limited reach, and massive volume of a baked good with limited shelf-life, I can't really take away anything tragic about this. The brands will live on. Granted, there's another silver lining to this. For me. There's a Merita bakery not far from where I live that I was planning on asking for employment at in January. WELL, if all the bakers get laid off, I think my chances of getting employed just increased.
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11-16-2012, 04:30 PM | #9 |
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Indiana =/= California obviously but:
1) I've never heard of a Hostess store in my life. Krispy Kreme, sure, but not Hostess. 2) Hostess foods were sold in every grocery store in the state. I may even go take a photo here in a second (assuming they haven't sold out because of a consumer rush ) just to show you. 3) And even the foods with stores of their own, like Krispy Kreme, still sell their core products in groceries.
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11-16-2012, 04:41 PM | #10 |
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The problem wasn't that they sold their goods in grocery stores. It was that they were competing in places against fresher goods (like doughnuts) and goods with higher shelf-life (candy) which were often cheaper substitutes to the Hostess goods. Every major grocery store in California save Food4Lesss has its own bakery for cakes/doughnuts. Given that access, why go for the Hostess goods? When I shopped at Bel-Air, I never bought Hostess. I always bought either candy or fresh doughnuts/cakes. It wasn't because I was being "health conscious", it was a concern for freshness and for economy.
Hostess could have avoided the substitution problem by expanding to places where those snacks couldn't compete, like the hotel example. I've seen Eclairs/Bear Claws/all manner of nasty fruit confection when I stay at a chain's breakfast, but never a Hostess good. It was a missed opportunity.
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11-16-2012, 04:44 PM | #11 |
Fog Badge
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Fuck Twinkies, they're disgusting.
I'm going to miss the Fruit Pies more than anything. Lemon was the best...
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11-16-2012, 05:07 PM | #12 |
Not sure if gone...
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Never had a Twinkie.
That said, Talon, there is a Wonder Break/Hostess store in the city I live in. |
11-16-2012, 05:15 PM | #13 |
時の彼方へ
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I don't think Hostess was competing directly with donuts for a very simple reason: plastic sealed packaging made them ideal for lunch boxes for children. Donuts go stale very quickly but aren't economical to buy one at a time. But Twinkies (Hostess) or oatmeal creme pies (Little Debbie)? You buy a box of 6-12 and put one in your kid's lunchbox each day, lasting you nearly a week. Still fresh when donuts'd have already gone stale.
Obviously not every kid brings his own lunch to school. (I rarely did.) But not every kid eats Fruit Roll-Ups or drinks Hawaiian Punch either and I don't see them having vanished from store shelves yet. I really do think you're underappreciating the health-based reasoning for Hostess' demise. Parents in the '70s and '80s saw Hostess snacks as like the science-fiction cakes of the future. Parents today look at them with the same worry you'd have if I said I was going to feed your kid plasticine.
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11-16-2012, 06:41 PM | #14 |
The Path of Now & Forever
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Yeah, everyone's a health nut now. My cousin got into a fight with his wife because she wants to cook brown rice instead of white rice because it's "healthier." If my wife said that, I think I would file for divorce. (Exaggerating.) (Or am I?)
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11-16-2012, 08:27 PM | #16 |
我が名は勇者王!
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What have you done to your tongue?
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11-16-2012, 09:24 PM | #17 |
beebooboobopbooboobop
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Taught it to be tolerant of different races of rice.
Rice should be judged by its character, not by the color of its skin!
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11-17-2012, 12:08 AM | #19 |
The Path of Now & Forever
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I eat rice as just rice, not adding spices or anything. Brown rice does taste different. It also has a very different texture. Sure it tastes fine with sauce, but I don't eat it like that.
Don't even get me started on White Bread and Whole Wheat Bread. |
11-17-2012, 01:21 AM | #20 |
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11-17-2012, 02:05 AM | #21 |
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I always thought of Hostess stuff as overpriced compared to Little Debbie. Most Hostess cartons of cakes cost like $3 over here, while Little Debbies cost $1.75 (and are often on sale).
Does Hostess add cakes on the shelves depending on the seasons like Little Debbie does? I hardly pay attention to snacky cakes, so I'm not sure. The banana-nut muffins Hostess has are pretty good, but I don't care about snack cakes enough to pay for those overpriced things. |
11-17-2012, 01:38 PM | #22 |
Your reality is mine
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11-17-2012, 11:20 PM | #23 |
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I bought the last box of coffee cakes and se how much they go on ebay.
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11-18-2012, 12:25 AM | #24 |
我が名は勇者王!
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I visited a grocery store in wonder-land for the first time and it was completely out of anything Hostess. I got my parents to raid the local Hostess store too.
So much for "no demand".
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11-18-2012, 12:45 PM | #25 |
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I don't know how they can feel sad to see the product go if the reason for its dying out is a "health-conscious public". What, did they want to see everyone die? I know the products aren't THAT unhealthy, but it just doesn't paint a very good picture of your company if the only way for you to stay in business is for your customers to lack intelligence.
I remember the Atkins fad hit its peak in 2004, so it would make sense if the company nearly went out of business back then, too. Krispy Kreme nearly died out that year as well.
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