Hostess Brands to resume operations at four bakery facilities in US

Hostess Brands, a new company and employer under new ownership, is set to resume operations at four bakery facilities in the next eight to ten weeks.

The new owner of Hostess is set to reopen the plants in Columbus, Georgia; Emporia, Kansas; Schiller Park, Illinois; and Indianapolis, Indiana.

The investment in these facilities is being funded by the affiliates of Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co, which acquired selected Hostess assets out of bankruptcy this month.

Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co has acquired the Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Donettes snack cakes brands from Hostess, in a deal valued at $410m.

Hostess chairman and CEO Dean Metropoulos was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that the company plans to invest $60m into the facilities between now and September, and aims to create at least 1,500 jobs.

However, none of the workers are expected to be represented by unions.

Earlier, the Hostess products that Apollo and Metropoulos acquired were produced at 11 plants, which were running at less than 50%capacity.

The new facilities will operate at 85% to 90% capacity in order to make the business as efficient as possible, Metropoulos added.

The facilities will produce a full assortment of Hostess snack products.

Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co stated that the company aims to increase the distribution network of Hostess products to locations that Hostess previously couldn’t reach, including smaller convenience stores and dollar stores.

Hostess, headquartered in Dallas, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri, is a baked sweet goods manufacturer with brands including Twinkies, Cup Cakes, HoHos, Ding Dongs, Mini Muffins, Donnets, Zingers and Suzy Q’s.

---

Image: The new Hostess facilities will operate at 85% to 90% capacity in order to make the business as efficient as possible. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.