Hostess (TWNK) -) has been making treats that light up the world for nearly 175 years, and when thinking about treats that should last a lifetime, Hostess Twinkies even had a rumor that they would outlast a nuclear war.
Sadly, the myth of the eternal Twinkie isn’t true, as the baked treat shelf life is actually only about 25 day,s according to The Spruce Eats. However, it is still edible after its ‘expiration date,’ but it isn’t nearly as fresh or tasty as when it is fresh.
The Twinkie might not survive a nuclear war, and it almost didn’t last through the fall of the iconic Hostess Brand nearly a decade ago. News hit that the Hostess company was in trouble, and people began buying up the delicious baked treats believing they would never get to taste one again, according to Business Insider.
Thanks to a couple of guys, investor Dean Metropoulos and Andy Jhawar, who bought up the assets of the Hostess company after its second bankruptcy, the Twinkie lives on today.
If America had a national baked good, it might be a tough call between apple pie, chocolate chip cookie and the Twinkie. Luckily, anyone can bake an apple pie or bake chocolate chip cookies, but only one has proven to successfully make the iconic Twinkie.
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Hostess Blends Two Favorites
The baked good love child of two American favorites is going to hit grocery aisles in the Ding Dong-Twinkies Mashups. This is the chocolate covered treat dreams are made of, with a Twinkie cake and filling and then covered in Ding Dong fudge, according to Chew Boom.
The Twinkie and Ding Dong bakery treats have blended to create something wild and new that can expand the variety of treats for customers to pull off the grocery shelves.
“It’s so important for us to be focused on our portfolio transformation,” says, Hostess’ CEO Andy Callahan according to Food Dive in an interview.
Brands like Hostess are very few, like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, that have been around and survived over a century. Given the brand recognition these companies have an edge over competitors when trying to expand their portfolios. The brand name itself, is likely what saved Hostess from its complete demise nearly a decade ago, according to Business Insider.
The new sweet treat is like a throwback to the Twinkie Chocodile, which was a chocolate fudge covered twinkie. This new treat is going to be a permanent addition to the Hostess line up, so the elusive Chocodile may go extinct, according to MSN.
A year ago, Hostess debuted a new twist on the Twinkie, as it played with the crypto craze that was happening at the same time. It was a $TWINKcoin, a round Twinkie, essentially a Ding Dong shaped Twinkie.
“Cryptocurrency has generated a lot of headlines and discussion lately. So, Hostess Twinkies decided it was time to launch its own ‘currency’ that delivers a very tasty return,” said Hostess.
Hostess Continues to Satisfy the Sweet Tooth
The sweet treat company has a myriad of cake treats and has expanded into more of a candy bar like treat with its Kazbars, which are chocolate cake layers, crème, caramel, candy crunch and covered in smooth chocolate fudge. The Kazbars come in two flavors, chocolate caramel and triple chocolate.
"We know that consumers are craving multitextured snacks – and the variety of creamy, crunchy and rich layers in our new Kazbars will make every snacking experience a more joy-filled one," says Hostess Brands’ GM Christopher Balach.
"This new kind of snack delivers the familiar, moist Hostess cake consumers know and love with a new, delicious fusion of layers and textures. The snack has performed strongly with consumers throughout product-testing, and we're excited to see that translate in the marketplace."
Hostess Brands’ Voortman Cookies has also introduced new treats with zero sugar. These new treats are made with no artificial flavors or colors, and no high-fructose corn syrup. Voortman offers Zero Sugar Cookies and Wafers that come in a variety of flavors.
"Our goal with the expansion of our zero sugar portfolio is to provide consumers with great-tasting, fun-sized snacks that make balancing health and indulgence easy and delicious," said Voortman Cookies’ GM Adam Lisook.
"We're excited to offer sugar-conscious consumers more of what they want: easy, portable snacks that deliver all of the flavor without all of the sugar."
