What's gonna happen to Twinkies?

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

One scenario would be for Grupo Bimbo who already has a major stake in bakeries here in the US to buy the major brands such as Hostess and Dolly Madison and move the baking operations to Ciudad Acuña and distribute the products through their networks already in existence

 

[NightSwimmer]

I can tell what ain't gonna happen to a Twinkie.

It ain't gonna be put inside my body.

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

But they stay fresh for centuries

another thing that ain't gonna happen at Twinkies is they ain't gonna run payroll again

 

[Craig]

One scenario would be for Grupo Bimbo who already has a major stake in bakeries here in the US to buy the major brands such as Hostess and Dolly Madison and move the baking operations to Ciudad Acuña and distribute the products through their networks already in existence

Some products simply reach the end of their shelf life. Hostess has a tired product line.

Twinkies will live on as the single goal of Tallahasee in Zombieland...

 

[Craig]

I can tell what ain't gonna happen to a Twinkie.

It ain't gonna be put inside my body.

Nor will any Hostess product go in mine...which is the underlying problem with the brand.

Sure...perhaps a name or two gets bought up in the liquidation and saved. Nostalgia is a strong force, but Hostess has been struggling for 20 years. Sold in '95, gone bankrupt in 2004, reorganized...and losing money to this day. HoHo's? Wonder Bread? These are icons of the bad food movement..

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

Some products simply reach the end of their shelf life. Hostess has a tired product line.

Twinkies will live on as the single goal of Tallahasee in Zombieland...

The union disagrees with you. They think Hostess is basking in the bucks and can fork out whatever the Union demands

 

[Craig]

The union disagrees with you. They think Hostess is basking in the bucks and can fork out whatever the Union demands

This is pertinent to what exactly?

I was talking about about the awful product line. Icons of bad food...

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

Nor will any Hostess product go in mine...which is the underlying problem with the brand.

Sure...perhaps a name or two gets bought up in the liquidation and saved. Nostalgia is a strong force, but Hostess has been struggling for 20 years. Sold in '95, gone bankrupt in 2004, reorganized...and losing money to this day. HoHo's? Wonder Bread? These are icons of the bad food movement..

All your points are valid Union Leaders probably know this too. Why are they killing their own jobs earning 8% less is better than no job even with unemployment and food stamps. In the depths of the recession I experienced a 10% loss of income granted it is commission based this year is the first year I will be earning the same as before the recession and our business growth in the energy sector is in spite of Obama not because of anything he did

 

[NightSwimmer]

Nor will any Hostess product go in mine...which is the underlying problem with the brand.

Sure...perhaps a name or two gets bought up in the liquidation and saved. Nostalgia is a strong force, but Hostess has been struggling for 20 years. Sold in '95, gone bankrupt in 2004, reorganized...and losing money to this day. HoHo's? Wonder Bread? These are icons of the bad food movement..

Yep... When I was young, one of the largest employers in my area was a rayon cord plant. The factory employed well over 1500 people. Their primary customer was the various tire manufacturers who used the rayon fibers to manufacture bias ply tires.

When the plant announced their imminent closing, most folks in our community attributed it to the labor union demanding a $0.05 per hour raise to bring their wages in line with the paper mill that operated right next door to them. In reality, it was the new steel belted radial tires that Michelin had recently introduced to the market that spelled the doom of the rayon industry.

 

[Bernard_Fokke]

What's going to happen according to this is a bit over 18,000 workers are out of a job http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/NATL-Twinkies-Maker-Hostess-Going-Out-of-Business-179643161.html

Not that I'll miss the product as I also don't eat that crap but it's going to be a rough Christmas for some.

 

[Craig]

All your points are valid Union Leaders probably know this too. Why are they killing their own jobs earning 8% less is better than no job even with unemployment and food stamps. In the depths of the recession I experienced a 10% loss of income granted it is commission based this year is the first year I will be earning the same as before the recession and our business growth in the energy sector is in spite of Obama not because of anything he did

The President, no matter who, is not responsible for every aspect of every business in the world. I lived in SF during the early 80's. The nation was in a recession but SF was a boomtown. Personal anecdotes do not impress me. They may make for a nice story, but that's it.

Hostess sells crap.

They restructured and cut a few years ago...and want to do it again. At some point it simply becomes an untenable situation for the workers. Everything goes up...except wages for the workers...and their benefits. This creates a very unhappy workplace.

If never decaying baked goods are in such great demand, then bakers will find jobs. If not, then so be it.

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

The President, no matter who, is not responsible for every aspect of every business in the world. I lived in SF during the early 80's. The nation was in a recession but SF was a boomtown. Personal anecdotes do not impress me. They may make for a nice story, but that's it.

Hostess sells crap.

They restructured and cut a few years ago...and want to do it again. At some point it simply becomes an untenable situation for the workers. Everything goes up...except wages for the workers...and their benefits. This creates a very unhappy workplace.

If never decaying baked goods are in such great demand, then bakers will find jobs. If not, then so be it.

I wish them all luck. It is not a good time to be looking for a job

 

[NightSwimmer]

What's going to happen according to this is a bit over 18,000 workers are out of a job http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/NATL-Twinkies-Maker-Hostess-Going-Out-of-Business-179643161.html

Not that I'll miss the product as I also don't eat that crap but it's going to be a rough Christmas for some.

It's not as if I have no sympathy for those people. Then again, it's not as if there is anything reasonable that can be done to remedy the situation. The unemployed will simply have to seek other opportunities. Fortunately, they have access to a social safety net that will assist them in this transition. We are a great nation, aren't we?

 

[Craig]

I wish them all luck. It is not a good time to be looking for a job

Can't argue with that.

Is it ever a good time to look for a job? I suppose it depends on the job one is seeking. For example, Maryland has just changed its gambling laws to include table games. One casino announced they will be hiring 800 dealers and opening a school to teach folks. The school, for at least the initial few sessions, will be free for students, as the demand is pretty urgent.

So...if one has casino dealing skills, Maryland is a good place to look for a job right now. Too bad Hostess didn't announce sooner...as Wegman's just opened a new store nearby...and they hire quite a few bakers. Does that take care of 18,000? Of course it does not, but...they will get unemployment and union bennies for a while at least.

Perhaps Mitt Romney will come to Hostess' rescue...

 

[lupehernandezdepedajack]

I can tell what ain't gonna happen to a Twinkie.

It ain't gonna be put inside my body.

I will have to admit eating Twinkies a few times as substitute for fresh beignets when drinking chickory coffee

 

[fairsheet]

I will have to admit eating Twinkies a few times as substitute for fresh beignets when drinking chickory coffee

Yeah, I can't see myself actually buying a Twinkie, but if someone tossed me one?...I'd gobble it down for sure.

 

[888888]

The union disagrees with you. They think Hostess is basking in the bucks and can fork out whatever the Union demands

Is that right sir, then show us what you are talking about, or are you like most republicans, and can't see the light because your head is so far up your ass?

 

[888888]

Can't argue with that.

Is it ever a good time to look for a job? I suppose it depends on the job one is seeking. For example, Maryland has just changed its gambling laws to include table games. One casino announced they will be hiring 800 dealers and opening a school to teach folks. The school, for at least the initial few sessions, will be free for students, as the demand is pretty urgent.

So...if one has casino dealing skills, Maryland is a good place to look for a job right now. Too bad Hostess didn't announce sooner...as Wegman's just opened a new store nearby...and they hire quite a few bakers. Does that take care of 18,000? Of course it does not, but...they will get unemployment and union bennies for a while at least.

Perhaps Mitt Romney will come to Hostess' rescue...

Want to bet someone made big bucks off of Hostess going broke. Sounds to me like someone like Bain had their hands in this!

 

[888888]

"Our members are on strike because they have had enough," bakers' union president Frank Hurt said in a statement on Tuesday. "They are not willing to take draconian wage and benefit cuts on top of the significant concessions they made in 2004 and give up their pension so that the Wall Street vulture capitalists in control of this company can walk away with millions of dollars."

The company gave bakers a 5 p.m. Thursday deadline to return to work or face a shutdown of the company.

Hostess— now controlled by a group of investment firms including hedge funds Silver Point Capital and Monarch Alternative Capital —will sell its assets to the highest bidder, meaning that some of its more popular products could be picked up at auction and packaged by other companies.


But the Bakery Workers union has said it doesn't believe in management's turnaround plans.

"The plan has little or no chance of succeeding in saving the business," said Frank Hurt, president of the Bakery Workers union, in a statement last month.

"This is a company that is controlled by Wall Street private equity and hedge fund firms, whose sole objective is to maximize their own returns, not rebuild a company for the long haul," he said.

This is the bain way, they buy a good product, cut wages and benefits, cash out in a few years and leave the employees with a shell of a company that can't go forward. So is it worth it to continue to take cuts, give away a future or just say hell no, I'll move on and let them close.

 

[Craig]

Want to bet someone made big bucks off of Hostess going broke. Sounds to me like someone like Bain had their hands in this!

Yeah...it sounds that way to me as well. Bankrupt company reorganizes and takes on 700 million dollar loan...


Hostess Brands is unprofitable under its current cost structure, much of which is determined by union wages and pension costs. The offer to the BCTGM included wage, benefit and work rule concessions but also gave Hostess Brands’ 12 unions a 25 percent ownership stake in the company, representation on its Board of Directors and $100 million in reorganized Hostess Brands’ debt.

http://consumerist.com/2012/11/16/hostess-to-liquidate-assets-into-sugary-cream-centered-cash/

They wanted to transfer a minority ownership share and a huge debt load onto the unions??? How very nice of them to offer lower wages, fewer bennies and debt. The magnanimity stuns...

As the thread indicates...the real reason they are in trouble is because fewer and fewer people are buying their products.