RIP Twinkies

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-hostess-brands-seeks-court-permission-to-liquidate-20121116,0,3175964.story

Hostess Brands Inc., the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, said it had sought court permission to go out of business after failing to get wage and benefit cuts from thousands of its striking bakery workers. Hostess said a national strike by members of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that began last week had crippled its ability to produce and deliver products at several facilities. Hostess Chief Executive Gregory Rayburn said in an interview on CNBC Friday morning that Hostess could not avoid liquidation, even if members of its bakers' union ended their strike immediately and went back to work. The liquidation of the company will mean that most of its 18,500 employees will lose their jobs, Hostess said on Friday.

They will sell their products to other companies. Don't worry. You'll still have your precious Twinkies.

This guy does not approve:

Yay unions!

Granted...I haven't eaten their products in many, many years...

I've been saying the same thing over and over since I was five:

Yodels. Berkeleying. Rule.

Maybe this is a sign that people are finally starting to listen to me.

Bobzilla wrote: Yay unions!

Careful, that is close to patio talk...

One of you Photoshop gurus needs to colorize this image, replacing the dirigible with a huge, burning Twinkie.

Good riddance.

Last time I ate one, it was a soft, yellow piece of styrofoam jammed with this white filling that faintly reminded me of fluffy Plaster of Paris.

Am I the only one who finds it funny that the union striked them selves out of a job all together?

Spoolpigeon wrote: Am I the only one who finds it funny that the union striked them selves out of a job all together?

I doubt that was part of their plan.

Ranger50 wrote: Good riddance. Last time I ate one, it was a soft, yellow piece of styrofoam jammed with this white filling that faintly reminded me of fluffy Plaster of Paris.

That's actually one of the ingredients in the filling. No joke.

1988RedT2 wrote: One of you Photoshop gurus needs to colorize this image, replacing the dirigible with a huge, burning Twinkie.

How's this?

GameboyRMH wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote: One of you Photoshop gurus needs to colorize this image, replacing the dirigible with a huge, burning Twinkie.

How's this?

Very nice. If I was picky, I might suggest a bit of the white filling blasted from a rupture in the gas bag, er... Twinkie.

Hostess' problems predate the strike. They've been in the red for a while, and their current boss is well known for dismantling companies to minimize loss to the shareholders when the ship is going down. They cut back benefits (to lower level employees), which is why the union began their strike.

This is pretty standard asset management practice: take it apart, sell off what you can so the higher ups make money on the way out. Sorry about that insurance and pension and stuff.

I couldn't care less about the product, but this is a fairly significant blow to a handful of local economies, St. Louis being one of them. This will put a few hundred people out of work here, over 18,000 nationwide.

Improved:

Meh. Cloud cakes taste better anyway.

Granted the company had been in trouble for awhile, but if you're a union and you know all this why in gods name do you play chicken? Their chances of the bakers union getting that $944 million dollar pension fund are slim now.

How will we survive the zombie apocalypse without Twinkies?

There is a food truck in San Fran that makes fresh-baked versions of your favorite snack cakes. Fresh Twinkies are AWESOME. Their version of a Ho Ho will make you renounce Jesus and worship a confection.

Bumboclot wrote: Meh. Cloud cakes taste better anyway.

How many champagne corks got popped at Little Debbie HQ yesterday?

alex wrote: Hostess' problems predate the strike. They've been in the red for a while, and their current boss is well known for dismantling companies to minimize loss to the shareholders when the ship is going down. They cut back benefits (to lower level employees), which is why the union began their strike. This is pretty standard asset management practice: take it apart, sell off what you can so the higher ups make money on the way out. Sorry about that insurance and pension and stuff. I couldn't care less about the product, but this is a fairly significant blow to a handful of local economies, St. Louis being one of them. This will put a few hundred people out of work here, over 18,000 nationwide.

That is what equity firms do best. Just look at Cerebus with its buying of Chrysler. They sold off everything they could to stay afloat, as MB "stole" all of the cash Chrysler had to keep themselves afloat previously. Once all the trimmed assets are gone, it makes another firm buying of the company "easier". Fiat only bought Chrysler for its parts network and easier entry into the US market again.