Hostess enters frozen aisle with launch of fried Twinkies
By Jeremy Gerrard
You no longer have to wait until the state fair rolls into town to grab one of America's favorite fabled indulgences: the deep fried Twinkie. Hostess Brands announced it is rolling out a battered and deep fried version of its iconic cream-filled sponge cake for consumers to heat up at home. The product launches nationwide later this year and is the company's first foray into the frozen food aisle.
The pre-packed deep-fried Twinkies are dipped in funnel cake batter and flash fried before they're frozen, and can be heated up in a toaster oven or regular oven in just minutes. The product comes in two flavors: Classic and Chocolate.
"Americans asked and we answered," says Ellen Copaken, vice president of marketing, Hostess Brands, LLC. "We started to explore the idea of developing a deep-fried Twinkie when we saw, year after year, that this indulgent snack was the main attraction at local state fairs and summer carnivals taking place around the country."
The product launch comes on the heels of Hostess's recent innovation efforts to extend its offerings with an array of seasonal snack cakes such as Pumpkin Spice Twinkies and Peppermint Ho Hos, as well as adding treats such as candy-topped brownies through a partnership with Mars's M&Ms and Milky Way brands.
"Bringing the Twinkie to the freezer aisle is another way to extend the iconic Hostess brand to other parts of the store," added Copaken.
Hostess was acquired by Metropoulos & Company and Apollo Global Management in 2013, after the nearly century-old bakery experienced financial trouble leading to the liquidation of the old Hostess Brands, Inc. The company's cake business was sold to the investors to create the current Hostess Brands. The Kansas City, MO-based company operates bakeries in Emporia, KS; Columbus, GA; and Indianapolis, IN. In July, the snack cake company announced it will once again be a publicly traded company.
KEYWORDS: food and beverage industry trends food and beverage manufacturing
Jeremy Gerrard was Food Engineering's Digital/Online Editor. He is a graduate of Auburn University with a degree in journalism. His previous work experience includes years spent as a reporter with the Daily Local News out of Chester County, PA. In addition to writing feature articles for Food Engineering, Jeremy covered the Dry Processing, Field Reports and People and Industry news sections.
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