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Chocolate-covered Twinkies, also known as the Chocodile, are back with a vengeance, FoodBeast reported.
Previously only available on the West Coast since the late 1990s, the Chocodiles are now being released nationwide
Hostess brand is set to release bit-sized versions of chocolate-encased goodness in variations with strawberry, banana, and original cream filling, giving the children in all of us a chance to celebrate.
Previously only available on the West Coast since the late 1990s, these miniature Boston Creams are now being released nationwide, the website said.
The return of Twinkies to supermarket shelves on July 15 has been marred by the decision to freeze them as it could threaten the product’s integrity.
The freezing of the popular all-American pastries has been confirmed by the manufacturer company, Hostess Brands Inc, which said in a statement to Huff Post Business that the decision was made due to requests from their retail customers.
The statement said it will allow the retailers to “date the product for freshness” while giving them “flexibility in filling their shelves”.
The plan is to bake the goodies at five plants and freeze them before shipping them through independent drivers to supermarket warehouses, according to sources.
Stores would defrost them and restock the shelves as needed.
However, according to the New York Post, some people fear the new freezing process could threaten the product’s future popularity and integrity.
The return of Twinkies to supermarket shelves on July 15 has been marred by the decision to freeze them as it could threaten the product’s integrity
A common urban legend claims that Twinkies – a sponge cake with white creamy filling – have an infinite shelf life, or can last unspoiled for a relatively long time, due to the chemicals used in their production.
This urban legend is false, although Twinkies can last a relatively long time because they are made without dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items.
Twinkies are in fact on the shelf for a short time, according to a company executive who told the New York Times in 2000 that the Twinkie is on the shelf “no more than 7 to 10 days”.
Twinkies’ myth of having a long shelf life has been referenced in films and television shows such as Die Hard, WALL-E, Zombieland, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and Family Guy.
But Hostess denies the decision to freeze the cakes before they hit the shelves will have any impact.
“Any suggestion that Hostess is changing the integrity of the iconic snack cakes consumers have loved is completely untrue,” said Hostess spokeswoman, Hannah Arnold.
“The new ownership is absolutely committed to baking top quality snack cakes and, in fact, is making major investments to ensure that Hostess products are as good, if not even better, than before,” she said.
Hostess filed for bankruptcy in early 2012, after an acrimonious fight with its unionized workers last year.
It is now back up and running under new owners and a leaner structure under investment firm Metropoulos & Co. who swooped in to buy Twinkies and other Hostess snacks in 2013.
Based on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its demise, Hostess is expecting a blockbuster when it returns to shelves on July 15 with its Twinkies and other sugary treats, such as CupCakes and Donettes.
The Twinkie was invented in Illinois, in 1930.
Twinkies could be back on sale in stores by the summer after manufacturer Hostess was bought in a $410 million deal.
The snacks, along with other Hostess products including Wonder bread, have not been produced since November when the company filed for liquidation following strike action by the Bakery Workers union.
The company announced to the bankruptcy court on Monday that a winning bid for Hostess had been tabled by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co.
The winning bid also secured five of the company’s closed bakeries as part of the bid.
Hostess had forewarned the bankruptcy court in December that it was narrowing down the bids it received for its brands and expected to sell off its snack cakes and bread to separate buyers.
The company said then that a likely suitor had emerged for the brand, which includes Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, along with Dolly Madison cakes, which includes Coffee Cakes and Zingers, said Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners.
They said at the time that another viable bid had been made for Drake’s cakes, which includes Devil Dogs, Funny Bones and Yodels. That bidder was also said to want to buy the Drake’s plant in Wayne, N.J., which Joshua Scherer said is the country’s only kosher bakery plant.
It had been predicted that the auctions could be very active for some of the brands, given the number of parties that had expressed interest.
About 30 plants were also likely to be sold with the brands with six plants, several warehouses and a fleet of trucks likely to be closed or scrapped.
Twinkies could be back on sale in stores by the summer after manufacturer Hostess was bought in a $410 million deal
Hostess hired a firm Hilco to act as a sales agent for those additional assets; the firm also gave Hostess a $30 million loan to maintain operations during its liquidation, which was expected to take about a year.
Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, had said potential buyers included major packaged food companies and national retailers, such as big-box retailers and supermarkets.
The company stressed it needs to move quickly in the sale process to capitalize on the outpouring of nostalgia sparked by its bankruptcy.
To begin winding down its operations in November, Hostess had said it would retain about 3,000 workers to shutter plants and perform other tasks.
The following month, an attorney for Hostess said in court that figure was down to about 1,100 employees.
The liquidation of Hostess ultimately means the loss of about 18,000 jobs, not including those shed in the years leading to the company’s failure.
The company’s demise came after years of management turmoil and turnover, with workers saying the company failed to invest in updating its snack cakes and breads.
Hostess filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a decade last January, citing steep costs associated with its unionized workforce.
The company was able to reach a new contract agreement with its largest union, the Teamsters, but the bakers union rejected the terms and went on strike in early November. A week later, Hostess announced its plans to liquidate, saying the strike crippled its ability to maintain normal production.
Although Hostess sales have been declining over the years, they had still been clocking in at between $2.3 billion and $2.4 billion a year.
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As the future of Twinkies hangs in the balance, fans of the fatty treat are desperately stockpiling their favorite snack in an effort to prevent the possibility of its disappearance from America’s cupboards.
Hostess, the company which makes the cream-filled cakes along with other childhood throwbacks such as Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, announced on Friday that it would go out of business within weeks.
And while most of the firm’s most iconic brands are likely to be snapped up by other manufacturers, Twinkie die-hards were taking no chances after the announcement.
The snacks were flying off shelves throughout the nation, and grocery store workers reported that they were fast running out of Twinkies and other Hostess brands.
“We may have a few things left, but pretty much we’re out of our Hostess stuff,” a store manager in Chicago told Businessweek.
And a spokesman for grocery chain Supervalu warned: “We will only have the products while supplies last.”
As the future of Twinkies hangs in the balance, fans of the fatty treat are desperately stockpiling their favorite snack
Customers flocked to the Wonder Hostess Bakery Coutlet in Indianapolis to get their hands on the fast-vanishing treats.
Charles Selke showed journalists his plastic bag stuffed with snacks, including Zingers dessert cakes.
“How do these just disappear from your life?”, he asked.
“That’s just not right, man. I’m loyal. I love these things, and I’m diabetic.”
For others, the rush to snap up Hostess foodstuffs was motivated by historic considerations, as in the case of Samantha Caldwell, from Chicago.
She bought a pack of Twinkies to give to her four-year-old son, saying: “This way he can say, <<I had one of those>>.”
In New York City, many grocery stores had run out of Twinkies by mid-afternoon, with only Hostess’ less popular products left over.
The shortage led to the snacks selling for wildly inflated prices on eBay and other online marketplaces.
One opportunistic seller managed to offload a box of 10 Twinkies – which would normally cost no more than $5 – for $60.
It is unclear how long the sweet treats will stay fresh – while it is widely rumored that Twinkies remain edible for decades, it is unclear to what extent that is true.
Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, the cream-filled sponge cakes well-loved in the US, has said it will close down the company, leading to the loss of 18,500 jobs.
Hostess Brands said a strike by the bakers union would force it to shut all operations and sell all assets.
It has long been in trouble – emerging from bankruptcy protection in 2009 only to file again in January 2012.
The wind-down also means the closure of 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centres and 570 bakery outlet stores.
“We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike,” said chief executive Gregory Rayburn.
“Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.”
The company is also behind the Wonder and Merita bread brands, as well as Drake’s cakes.
Twinkies maker, Hostess Brands, has said it will close down the company, leading to the loss of 18,500 jobs
Last week, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on a nationwide strike.
On Thursday, Hostess Brands said it determined that an “insufficient number of employees had returned to work to enable the restoration of normal operations”.
Hostess Brands was founded in 1930 and had revenues of $2 billion last year.
The union’s pension fund is its biggest unsecured creditor, and is owed about $944.2 million.
