Farewell, Hostess . . .

[Dravin]

How in the world can you have your products in every store (including wallyworld) and in many convenience stores across the whole U.S. and make well known bread (Wonderbread) and lose money?

There is nothing magical about having product on shelves that makes a company profitable. If all that product isn't moving fast enough or at a sustainable margin (or both) you've got a long term set-up for financial insolvency.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Dravin

[NeuroTypical]

Just wanted to post site rule #12. The rules we all agreed to when we first signed up.

12. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this site to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law.

[Guest]

This is an impossible thread.

When somebody says things like - "greedy corporate people" and "starving American children"... like only union workers have children to feed, and everybody who doesn't work for the union are greedy, there's really nothing else you can say to contribute to the discussion.

Especially when you're facing the illogic of "you sell bread, it's impossible for you to not make a profit".

[Vort]

How in the world can you have your products in every store (including wallyworld) and in many convenience stores across the whole U.S. and make well known bread (Wonderbread) and lose money?

You cannot possibly be serious. (Except I fear you are.)

It's the corporations fault, not the union workers. The heads of Hostess are upset they have to still deal with paying pensions and unions when so many other U.S. businesses have either shipped their jobs to slave labor China or broke unions and are now paying their American workers a non living wage.

This is all about the head honchos of Hostess wanting to break the union. They want to be like Apple - make lots of money at the expense of slave labor in China or pay American workers a lousy wage.

So they're willing to commit corporate suicide to stick it to the union. Sure, that's perfectly reasonable.

The heads of Hostess are evil, evil, evil. People either stand with the greedy Hostess corporate people or you stand and protect the starving American children and their hard working moms and dads.

Guess I'm standing with those evil Hitlerians.

[Bini]

Just wanted to post site rule #12. The rules we all agreed to when we first signed up.

All I wanted when I entered this thread was a Twinkie but now that I see politics have taken over -- lame -- I'm outta here!

[pam]

I was just reading that there is a last ditch effort at remediation today. Though it appears doubtful that it will do any good.

[prisonchaplain]

BTW...I just subscribed to the Wall Street Journal. That's a safe, unbiased source, isn't it? :-)

[pam]

Is there really any safe unbiased source?

[Just_A_Guy]

Thank you for your reply. I know they were offered a 1/4 stake in Hostess, but I didn't mention it in addition because being offered a stake in a failing company doesn't sound like a great deal to me lol. It sounds like you are saying Obamacare is the reason insurance prices are high.

If the workers themselves thought the company could not / would not turn around financially even if they had ownership, stock voting rights, and dedicated representation on the board of directors, then how can they blame the company for liquidating?

I have had the exact same insurance for 6 years, and every year the price has gone higher. Pres. Obama has been in office for 4 years

That's another discussion, but several of us have noticed health insurance skyrocketing since 2010. Can't really blame the HMOs - if you force them to throw thousands of dollars into health care for people who were previously uninsurable, but deny them the right to charge commensurate premiums for those particular people, then the rest of us will pay. (Hence, the mandate.)

More to the point: rising health health insurance costs are going to hit workers, and if they think their employers are going to shield them from that then they've got a nasty shock coming.

As for the money, where was it going? I don't know. It can be said with complete truthfulness that the money can go to wherever the managers want it to go. They don't have to spend it on replacing aging equipment. They don't have to increase employee wages.

But we're speaking with limited knowledge of the company's financials. If it didn't go to management, and it didn't go to employees, and it didn't go to infrastructure or advertising or R and D, then the only remaining possibility is that the money wasn't there to begin with - hence, the bankruptcy.

But getting wage concessions and raiding an employee-contributing pension fund without repaying the employees and then years later blaming the fed-up employees is not a very nice thing to do.

A major problem with some unions - and the Kossack crowd - in fact, with American fiscal liberalism generally - is the misguided expectation that math is supposed to be "nice".

Edited November 20, 2012 by Just_A_Guy

[Backroads]

I would just like to let pam know that one of my volunteers brought me rare powdered Hostess donuts today I'm eating them as we speak.

[Guest]

I would just like to let pam know that one of my volunteers brought me rare powdered Hostess donuts today I'm eating them as we speak.

BACKROADS!!! You gotta share!!!!

[prisonchaplain]

I once told a Hostess employee I was on the Atkins Diet and she accused me of being an ANTI. :-)

[pam]

I would just like to let pam know that one of my volunteers brought me rare powdered Hostess donuts today I'm eating them as we speak.

Oh man. You are soooooo cruel. Cruel, cruel I tell ya.

Honestly I can't believe you age them. You should have sold them on Ebay and made a fortune. I have a friend that said he actually just purchased some chocolate Zingers on ebay because he loves them so much.

Edited November 20, 2012 by pam

[Backroads]

Oh man. You are soooooo cruel. Cruel, cruel I tell ya.

Honestly I can't believe you age them. You should have sold them on Ebay and made a fortune. I have a friend that said he actually just purchased some chocolate Zingers on ebay because he loves them so much.

That's what I plan on doing with the 2nd pack...

[pam]

That's what I plan on doing with the 2nd pack...

I put you on ignore. What did you say?

[Backroads]

Merely that I was given not one but two packs of lovely donuts.

[pam]

Merely that I was given not one but two packs of lovely donuts.

Lalalalalala I can't hear you.

[Guest]

Why, oh why did I not think of putting Hostess snacks in my 1-year food storage...

[Dravin]

Why, oh why did I not think of putting Hostess snacks in my 1-year food storage...

My understanding is that despite their reputation, snack cakes like Twinkies don't have amazing longevity in food storage terms just in baked goods terms. I suppose it would let one forestall the inevitable for those varieties that may not come back into production (or experience changes during the rebirthing process) for a little while at least. Also I suppose if your criteria is safe to eat rather than tasting fresh that buys you some more time.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Dravin

[talisyn]

Why, oh why did I not think of putting Hostess snacks in my 1-year food storage...

I totally thought of this, and did it. The 1 month supply (baby steps) lasted about 2 days

[HoosierGuy]

Especially when you're facing the illogic of "you sell bread, it's impossible for you to not make a profit".

If Wonder Bread is in a great number of stores in the U.S. as it currently is, it's for a reason - people buy it. As far as I'm concerned it's the only decent bread on the market. Yeah, they are making good money from their products.

[Guest]

If Wonder Bread is in a great number of stores in the U.S. as it currently is, it's for a reason - people buy it. As far as I'm concerned it's the only decent bread on the market. Yeah, they are making good money from their products.

Wonder Bread is the only decent bread on the market? It's barely food!

[Windseeker]

As far as I'm concerned it's the only decent bread on the market. Yeah, they are making good money from their products.

This may be the greatest thing that could ever happen to you as Wonder Breads demise opens up a whole new world of baked goods that actually have nutritional value.

[Guest]

If Wonder Bread is in a great number of stores in the U.S. as it currently is, it's for a reason - people buy it. As far as I'm concerned it's the only decent bread on the market. Yeah, they are making good money from their products.

Hoosier... to make good money in business, one has to sell the bread for MORE than it cost to make. It does not matter one wit if you sell 10 Billion packages of wonderbread a second when it costs you $10 to make a package of bread that you can only sell for $3.

Do you understand what I'm saying? THAT IS WHY they tried to negotiate with the Unions - so that they can lower the COST of making bread and actually make money.

If they were making good money, "greedy corporations" are not going to close down their cash cow just because they have a fight with the unions.

Now, let's see if this actually penetrates the walls of class warfare you're waging...

This may be the greatest thing that could ever happen to you as Wonder Breads demise opens up a whole new world of baked goods that actually have nutritional value.

There is not a lack of baked goods with nutritional value. They're sitting right next to Wonderbread (who actually makes different types of nutritional bread in additional to their classic white, but let's just say they aren't for the sake of making this point). Nobody buys them because they don't taste as good. The demise of Wonder Bread opens up a hole for a brand new company - probably a small business - to market their nutritionally deficient bread that tastes like Wonder Bread.

[RMGuy]

As far as I'm concerned it's the only decent bread on the market.

Dude, no offense...but if you think WonderBread is "decent" you need to get out more!

-RM