Twinkies are set for sweet comeback

Snack cake returns to stores July 15 with same cost, taste, Hostess says

Hostess Brands Inc. Twinkies snacks sit on a shelf inside the company's outlet store in Peoria, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, said it will fire more than 18,000 workers and liquidate after a nationwide strike by bakery workers crippled operations. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Hostess Brands Inc. Twinkies snacks sit on a shelf inside the company's outlet store in Peoria, Illinois, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, said it will fire more than 18,000 workers and liquidate after a nationwide strike by bakery workers crippled operations. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

The Twinkie black-market bubble is about to burst.

The second coming of Twinkies - the yellow, spongy, cream-filled snack cake - is about a week away. Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands LLC is already in production at four bakeries in Illinois, Georgia, Kansas and Indiana, and the company’s website is counting down the seconds until the treat returns.

Hannah Arnold, a spokesman for Hostess, said more than 67,000 visitors have visited the Twinkie countdown clock and a related website. The number of people who have “liked” the Twinkie’s return via a Facebook widget is approaching 500,000. Due date for the Twinkie rebirth: July 15.

Hostess quit making Twinkies and other sweets after the company went bankrupt last year. It was picked up in March by private equity firms Apollo Global Management andC. Dean Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million. The two were the sole bidders for the Hostess and Dolly Madisonbranded parts of the business; other parts were sold to different companies. Metropoulos & Co. also owns Pabst Brewing Co.

Twinkies are expected to taste and cost the same - $3.99 for a box of 10 in most outlets. The packaging will remain the same, as well, except for a new tag line in the upper right-hand corner: “The sweetest comeback in the history of ever.”

“When Hostess left the market last year, people were in a state of mourning,” Hostess Brands President Rich Seban said last week. “The social media universe erupted with emotional tweets and posts from consumers who couldn’t fathom a world without Hostess snack cakes. … There was no question that consumers wanted the products they knew and loved back.”

A great amount of interest and support from retailers across the board - Wal-Mart, in particular - underscores the enduring appeal of the Hostess brand, as well as the widespread consumer demand for its snacks, he said.

“Try as competitors might, there’s only one original. You can’t top a Twinkie and you can’t swap a squiggle,” Seban added, referring to the iconic white icing swirls that sit atop Hostess CupCakes.

Besides Twinkies and CupCakes, Hostess will be re-releasing Donettes, Zingers, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, fruit pies and mini muffins, though it may take a little longer for some products - such as the pink, coconut-covered Sno Balls - to return.

When word began to spread that Twinkies and other snack cakes were going away last year, the products began showing up on eBay with sky-high asking prices.

Suzanne Wells, an eBay expert and author of five books on eBay selling, tracked the action on eBay and Amazon.com with great interest - and some disgust.

“People actually rented U-Hauls and drove 50 miles if they lived way out,” to nab all the Hostess goodies they could, Wells said. Sno Balls were listed for as much as $50 per package. One seller put a $1 million price tag on some Twinkies, obviously not expecting to get the asking price.

“That was never going to happen,” she said.

On her blog, she warned sellers that the edibles have a shelf life of just 21 days and that expired foodstuffs could not be sold on the auction sites. Wells said the frenzy lasted just a few days, and though the auction sites remained flooded with Hostess products, the prices came way down.

“A lot of people were stuck with rooms full of this stuff,” she said.

Olivia Adkins of Hartsburg, Ill., fell into the trap. She bought some Twinkies in January for $2 a box with hopes of making a bundle on eBay.

“I don’t really love them,” said Adkins, whose eBay handle is livsdimples. “I was literally just trying to make some money,”

She sold one box for $19.99 plus $12 for shipping.

“Other than that, people have just been making little pithy and sarcastic comments to me about how I will be unable to sell these after the Twinkies come back on July 15,” she said.

“What I have found to be interesting is that people have always said that Twinkies will last forever and that is just not the case. My boyfriend opened a box and he tried one and they were hard and kinda gross,” Adkins noted.

The Twinkie attraction? “They’re cute-looking and the name is kind of cute,” said Steve Ettlinger, who wrote Twinkie, Deconstructed in 2007. The book is more about what’s inside the Twinkie and how they’re made, but Ettlinger said he remains blown away by the popularity of the snack cake.

“It’s a profound mystery that Twinkies are that appealing to so many people in a very strong way,” he said. “It’s hard to fathom.”

Business, Pages 63 on 07/07/2013

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