Twinkie Maker Hostess Plans to Liquidate in Bankruptcy

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021Fact Checked

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021Fact Checked

One of America’s favorite snack foods is in jeopardy of being taken off the shelves. The maker of the cream-filled Twinkie, Hostess Brands Inc., announced last week that it is liquidating and going out of business after a failed bankruptcy. Hostess also made such household names as the Ho Ho, Ding Dong, and Wonder Bread.

Since the news of the company’s liquidation, people all over the country have been clearing grocery store shelves, stocking up on the cakes and sweets. Reports say, however, that the snack company may be bought out by another, saving the products from going extinct.

The Texas-based Hostess Inc. is reportedly petitioning the federal court to go out of business after thousands of Hostess workers went on strike to oppose wage and pension cuts. According to Reuters, the liquidation means their nearly 18,500 employees will lose their jobs as 33 plants close across the nation. It’s hard to believe the Twinkie-maker that could be considered the most well-known brand of its kind, and certainly the most popular snack-cake producer to date, would go out of business with a reported $2.5 billion in sales. But health foods are arguably surpassing so-called “junk food” in popularity for many American families in 2012.

The Labor Dispute

The original bankruptcy, filed in 2004, was followed by complaints from employees and unions regarding pay and retirement issues. The company was unable to successfully restructure its finances in the filing and product deliveries were suffering due to striking workers.

The heavy debt that Hostess faced was still a problem even after emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, and accusations from employees began to circulate. According to Reuters, union members and other workers claimed that management ignored the need for more investment in marketing and “modernization of the plants and trucks;” and that instead, Hostess owners became richer and richer off the failing company’s private capital–a trend of accusations common among large corporations in recent years.

It seems the company has no choice at this stage but to retire their 82-year operation and liquidate. There are reports of another company buying the manufacturing sector of the tasty foods, meaning there’s a chance the products will still be available, at the relief of Twinkie fans everywhere.

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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