Hostess Closure Shocks TJ Community.
Reporter Ben Smiley takes a moment to remember his favorite Twinkie. Photo by Henna Danek
Many people have heard of the recent catastrophe of the long time pastry producer, Hostess’s closure. “Hostess was a fixture in my youth,” said Jackson Epstein, future diabetic.
Hostess Brands has had a long and sugar filled history, which consists of many different names. The parent company started as Interstate Bakeries Corporation in 1930, then to Interstate Brands in 1969, then back to Interstate Bakeries in 1981.
After the company went into bankruptcy in 2004, the parent company was then named Hostess, in 2009, which is the same name of the cake branch that produced Twinkies and cupcakes. Then in November 2012, Hostess employees nationwide went on strike, 6,600 employees. On November 16, 2012 Hostess ceased all plant operations, in turn, laid off 18,500 employees, putting America in a Twinkie drought. Now, Hostess has re-opened negotiations with their labor force, “hopefully resulting in the saving of Hostess,” said Corey Hernandez, business expert and DECA Travel Coordinator. But it was announced over the past few days that it is official that Hostess will be shutting down, leaving the nation without Twinkies until the end of time (at which time the surviving Twinkies may still be edible).
“This is devastating,” stated Jackson Epstein, Thomas Jefferson Senior. “I will now have to find another brand to satisfy my sugar cravings.”
Hostess produced many food products that were a major part of American life. The sweet snacks that they made were Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Sno Balls, Donettes, Devil Dogs, Funny Bones, Ring Dings, Coffee Cakes, Blueberry Muffins, and Yodels. The breads that they made went by the names of Wonder, Nature’s Pride, Merita, Home Pride, Beefsteak, Butternut, Millbrook, Eddy’s J.J. Nissen, Sweetheart, Cotton’s Holsum, Sunbeam, and Bread du Jour. Even though Hostess is out of business, most of these products will still be eatable for a good amount of time due to the high preservative content in their products.
Hostess had many iconic treats, such as the Twinkie and the Ding Dong. The Twinkie is a yellow snack cake with a creamy filling, one of the more popular Hostess products. The Ding Dong is a chocolate cupcake also with a creamy filling, also a very popular sweet treat. These desserts were so popular, people were buying them on ebay for as much as 5,000 dollars for a single Twinkie. “If I knew that Twinkies would have been worth this much now, I would’ve bought countless boxes of them months ago,” said Thomas Jefferson Senior, Micheal Mahoney. “I would have so much money if I did that.”
Buying Twinkies has been increasingly popular since the closure of Hostess. “I couldn’t imagine spending 5000 dollars on a Twinkie that you are just going to eat,” said Corey Hernandez, showing his DECA business savvy. Since Hostess produced over 500 million of these tasty treats per year, it is very surprising that they are being sold for this much money.
There is also a deeper downfall to the failure of Hostess. Hostess was a major corporation of the United States. Since they are shutting down, over 18,500 jobs were lost. “Which will put America in a deeper hole than we were already in,” said Epstein, “just as things were turning around for America.”
“Hostess was a fixture of America, as they satisfied America’s sweet tooth for many years, and it is very sad that they are having to shut down all operations,” said Micheal Mahoney.
