Hostess Is 'Innovating' Its Brand In An Unlikely Way

At one point or another, we've all had a Hostess cake or two or can identify the brand's signature sweets — a Twinkie, a Sno Ball, maybe the original chocolate Hostess cupcake with its white icing squiggle. Though many of us are familiar with the brand as it is today, it might be surprising to learn that Hostess has undergone a lot of change over its 100+ years of cupcake sales.

According to Hostess Cakes, the business officially kicked off in 1919 under the name Continental Baking. Over the next few decades, the company made and sold a variety of tasty and inexpensive treats, including the infamous chocolate cupcake, Donettes, and Sno Balls. In 1995, the company was bought by Interstate Bakeries Corp., only to file for bankruptcy in 2004 (via Fox News). After a revival in 2009, Interstate Bakeries Corp. rebranded as Hostess Brands as we know it today.

To best serve its fans, Hostess recently announced that it will be innovating its brand and product range yet again. Don't worry; our favorite powdered and glazed snacks aren't going anywhere.

Although rebrand initiatives usually mean changes to a company's product range, this is fortunately not the case with Hostess. Per Food Business News, the new plan for "innovating" the Hostess brand includes amping up its distribution. Despite the pandemic and inflation putting pressure on Hostess's sales, its single-serve snacks sold at convenience stores have been flying off the shelves at a 20% increase. And this niche area of success is where Hostess plans to invest.

Andrew Callahan, president and chief executive officer of Hostess, said the company's snacks have a repeat-purchase rate of more than twice, which, for the record, "is really, really good." The company is using customer and sales data to focus on its best-selling products, and its "innovating" goes no further than "investing in the drivers of liking, understanding, being able to do it at scale, testing it throughout the shelf life." In other words, there's no need to worry about your beloved Twinkies or any other Hostess favorites disappearing. This change is all about not changing!