Better stock up on Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho-Ho's while you can....

[Rockntractor]

Meaningless to the real issue here, but the Twinkies and Hostess cakes patent's, trademarks and recipes will be bought and Twinkies will probably live on as a snack.

[noonwitch]

Meaningless to the real issue here, but the Twinkies and Hostess cakes patent's, trademarks and recipes will be bought and Twinkies will probably live on as a snack.

They should publish a cookbook with the recipes, so that they ensure copyrights and all.

[Odysseus]

Did hostess adapt to a changing market?

Yes, but the union didn't. Hostess has a number of brands which accommodated changing tastes (Wonder Bread has whole grain and whole wheat variants, for example). They've tried to keep their place in the market, but the unions have refused to budge from their model. Labor is a commodity, just like bread. If the demand for labor increases, then wages (i.e., the price of labor) will increase. If demand decreases, wages will decrease, or the number of persons employed will decrease. If the union refuses to accept that wages must float with demand, then they are implicitly accepting lower employment, but that has consequences as well. Eventually, globalization forces a nation's most expensive commodities to compete with nations where they are cheaper. Labor is one of our most heavily subsidized commodities (through mandates such as minimum wage laws, just to give one obvious example), and it is far cheaper elsewhere in the world. If you price yourself out of the market through coercive policies, the market will seek to meet demand elsewhere, whether through outsourcing of jobs or importation of black market labor. These are the consequences of artificial price supports, and they have occurred so often throughout history that they should come as no surprise to anyone, but the lesson of history is that people refuse to learn the lessons of history.

The union refused to adapt, and it has destroyed its source of revenue. The intellectual properties (brands, recipes, etc.,) can be sold, and will end up being produced outside of the US. Don't blame Hostess for outsourcing those jobs. The union did it to themselves.

[FlaGator]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xRA0Ty2zSo

[JB]

Did hostess adapt to a changing market?

Yes, you just witnessed it. They adapted by not caving to outdated union demands. Now there are 18,500 less union pukes out there. The Hostess brands have name value and should get picked up by someone else. Management will more than likely parachute out of there and/or be hired by the company that buys the Hostess names and the new company will make Twinkies in China or some non-union friendly state and all will be right in the world again. ;)

I still can't figure out why the gubmint daddy didn't save these poor union folks. Oh wait, the election is over. And I imagine Michele was against it too.

[Madisonian]

Lets not forget they make wonder bread as well, not just junk food. What saddens me is that only about a third of the workforce of hostess forced a strike, most didn't want to go. They didn't want a 8% cut in pay, how do they feel now to a 100% cut in pay?

One of my first jobs as an industrial electrician (and my only union employment) was in a commercial bakery in Michigan in the early 70's.
Wonder bread (and similar low cost white breads) are made by a continuous mix process which is basically not a dough process but a mixture of a "sponge" (bleached white flour, water, yeast, sugar, shortening and various chemicals) mixed with more bleached white flour that plops into the pans with the consistency of McDonald's milkshake.

Like sausage and hot dogs, if you have ever seen it made, you would never want to eat it again.

My brother worked at the Hostess (Wagner) Bakery in Detroit (now the sight of the Motor City Casino) as a supervisor for a few years in the late 70's and I remember class trips to the bakery when I was in grade school in the area.

[Novaheart]

Lets not forget they make wonder bread as well, not just junk food. What saddens me is that only about a third of the workforce of hostess forced a strike, most didn't want to go. They didn't want a 8% cut in pay, how do they feel now to a 100% cut in pay?

Wonder Bread ingredients

Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% of less of: soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate (to retain freshness).


Alvarado Street Bakery Essential Flax Bread ingredients:

Sprouted organic whole wheat berries, filtered water, wheat gluten, sprouted organic flax seed, oat fiber, cultured wheat, organic dates, freah yeast, organic raisins, soy based lecithin, sea salt

[patriot45]

Wonder Bread ingredients

Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% of less of: soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate (to retain freshness).


Alvarado Street Bakery Essential Flax Bread ingredients:

Sprouted organic whole wheat berries, filtered water, wheat gluten, sprouted organic flax seed, oat fiber, cultured wheat, organic dates, freah yeast, organic raisins, soy based lecithin, sea salt

That was stupid.

[Rockntractor]

That was stupid.

Stupid is his, he has taken it, perfected it, and wears it like a coat.

[Odysseus]

Wonder Bread ingredients

Whole wheat flour, water, wheat gluten, high fructose corn syrup, contains 2% of less of: soybean oil, salt, molasses, yeast, mono and diglycerides, exthoxylated mono and diglycerides, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium iodate, calcium dioxide), datem, calcium sulfate, vinegar, yeast nutrient (ammonium sulfate), extracts of malted barley and corn, dicalcium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, calcium propionate (to retain freshness).


Alvarado Street Bakery Essential Flax Bread ingredients:

Sprouted organic whole wheat berries, filtered water, wheat gluten, sprouted organic flax seed, oat fiber, cultured wheat, organic dates, freah yeast, organic raisins, soy based lecithin, sea salt

Novaheart post ingredients

Cliched liberal mantras, filtered opinions, weak thought, stale ideology, non sequiturs, corny and syrupy ideas, contains less than 0.01% rational thought, original ideas, logic, liberal media talking points to create the illusion of freshness.