Twinkies Comeback: Hostess Introducing Crunchy Twinkies, Different Flavors?

By Daniel Distant, Christian Post Reporter Monday, June 24, 2013

Twinkies are now returning to shelves after a short absence caused by the bankruptcy of Hostess brands, which is known for the iconic yellow treat, among many others. Twinkies will be back in stores July 15 with the tagline "the sweetest comeback in the history of ever," according to reports.

In the wake of the Hostess Brands Inc. implosion last year- the company had been struggling with mismanagement and their CEO, Greg Rayburn, did not effectively negotiate with all of their unionized workers- workers went on strike. Over 15,000 lost their jobs after lobbying for the company to change products to suit customers' changing tastes and make a deal with the unions.

Although the company has changed hands, it seems at least some of their suggestions could be taken into account. Rich Seban, former COO and current president of Hostess, said crunchy or differently-flavored Twinkies are a possibility, and that dark cocoa replaced milk chocolate for the CupCake snacks.

"We can have some fun with that mixture," he told USA Today.

Twinkies' return to stores was funded by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., who teamed up to purchase some of the failing company's snacks for $410 million. Though the new Hostess Brands LLC has been reorganized and pared down, fans are sure to see many of their snack favorites like Twinkies, Ho-Hos, and Ding Dongs.

"America wanted Hostess back- they wanted the original. Very soon consumers will once again be able to enjoy Twinkies, CupCakes and other great Hostess snack cakes," Daren Metropoulos, principal of the firm, said in a statement. "A comeback by any other name could never be as sweet."

Hostess' prices will remain the same as well: $3.99 for a box of 10 Twinkies, with Donnettes, Zingers, fruit pies and mini muffins all being made available as well. A few Hostess products like Sno Balls could take a little longer to make a comeback, and other former Hostess brands like Wonder Bread and Drake's snack cakes were sold to Flowers Foods and Little Debbie, respectively.

In the wake of Hostess' bankruptcy in November, many other snack companies came up to fill the void. Now Hostess is hoping their publicized comeback will fund sales.

"A lot of impostor products have come to the market while Hostess has been off the shelves," Metropolous said.