Are We Going To Be Saying 'RIP Twinkie' Soon?
Ah, the Twinkie. The "golden sponge cake with creamy filling" that has defined a generation of eating poorly. A quick look at the timeless junk food's Wikipedia page reveals an entire section devoted to cultural references: Twinkie defense, experimentation, shelf life, Twinkie diet. There's a lot of fatty history here, people. But could America's guiltiest pleasure be in its dying days? (Related: Try out this red velvet twinks recipe. Like now.)
CNN Money reported yesterday that Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands announced that it could go into liquidation if its bakers continue striking in protest against a new contract imposed in bankruptcy court (no, "liquidation" is unrelated to the gooey inside of a Twinkie). The company has already closed bakeries in major U.S. cities and cut hundreds of jobs, and CEO Greg Rayburn said that more stores could close, with liquidation a real possibility. Hostess has already filed for bankruptcy twice and, with its executives perhaps on a wild sugar high, recently forced a contract on its workers consisting of reduced wages and benefits.
Alas, it seems that the very foundations of our eating and drinking culture are in jeopardy. First, it was the struggling state of happy hour, and now this bombshell. At least now you have somewhat of a valid defense to counter your mother's ire when you load up her shopping cart with Twinkies.
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