” Doughnuts,” a Van Beuren Studios cartoon featuring Tom & Jerry, 1933. Directed by Frank Sherman and George Rufle. Music Director: Gene Rodemich. To prevent confusion with the better-known MGM cartoon cat and mouse, the main characters’ names were later changed to Dick and Larry.
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Hostess, baker of America’s beloved Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Twinkies, founded in 1930, went bankrupt in 2012. The firm was bought the next year by a partnership led by C. Dean Metropoulos, savior of Vlasic, Hungry-Man, Old Milwaukee and Chef Boyardee food brands. The turnaround king has done it again, for our nation’s iconic dessert cakes:
“Now, the iconic dessert titan is resurgent, selling its golden, cream-filled Twinkies across the world under the name Hostess Brands and turning down $2 billion offers from a pack of hopeful buyers. On Tuesday morning, the company reached its latest peak when Reuters, citing anonymous sources, suggested Hostess would head to Wall Street with an initial public offering that would value the company at around $2.5 billion.”
— “Twinkies are not just back from the dead. Their baker may now be worth billions.” Drew Harwell, Washington Post
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Way back in 2004 or so, gourmet cupcake shops began to infest America’s cities, proffering paper-wrapped pastries top-heavy with icing, selling single servings for the price of whole supermarket pies. The trend rose with yeasty vigor for over a decade — until now.
The first inkling came in April with the collapse of share prices in Crumbs Bake Shop Inc. “The icing is coming off America’s cupcake craze,” said the Wall Street Journal.
Now the bakery ovens have grown stone cold. Crumbs is closing all its 48 stores in cities across America.
More:
“The rise and fall of Crumbs, America’s first public cupcake company,” Roberto A. Ferdman, Washington Post
“The standard bearer of America’s cupcake boom just ran out of dough,” Adam Pasick, Quartz
“Is the fad over? Cupcake firm Crumbs crumbles and shuts 48 stores,” Noel Young, The Medium
“Downfall of Crumbs Shows Limits of American Cupcake Addiction,” Lauren Coleman-Lochner, Selina Wang and Lindsey Rupp, Bloomberg News
“Why I hate cupcakes,” Meghan DeMaria, The Week
Dissenting opinions:
“Cupcakes not dead!” Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon
“Crumbs’s Fate Aside, the Cupcake Still Isn’t Dead,” Joe Pinsker, The Atlantic
UPDATE:
“Crumbs Bake Shop nears lifeline from investor group,” Katie Little, CNBC
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Gourmet cupcake shops infest America’s cities, proffering paper-wrapped pastries top-heavy with icing, selling single servings for the price of whole supermarket pies. The trend has been rising with yeasty vigor for over a decade — until now.
The cupcake fad is officially over. “The icing is coming off America’s cupcake craze,” says the Wall Street Journal, noting the collapse of share prices in Crumbs Bake Shop Inc.:
“After trading at more than $13 a share in mid-2011, Crumbs has sunk to $1.70. It dropped 34% last Friday, in the wake of Crumbs saying that sales for the full year would be down by 22% from earlier projections, and the stock slipped further this week.”
— “Forget Gold, the Gourmet-Cupcake Market Is Crashing,” Emily Maltby and Sarah E. Needleman, Wall Street Journal
More:
“The cupcake bubble has finally burst,” Carmel Lobello, The Week
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Bankrupt Hostess Brands has a potential buyer for Wonder Bread and related product lines. Flowers Foods has reportedly offered $390 million. The deal would also include Natures Pride, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita brands, 20 bakeries, and 38 depots. Hostess is now in the hands of private equity dealmakers, so rivals like Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo will have an opportunity to make higher offers in six weeks. Whoever makes the winning bid, it seems that Wonder will live on to Build Strong Bodies 12 Ways.
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