Darra Goldstein

Hostess

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

Hostess Brands, LLC is known for its line of sweet snack foods, including the iconic Hostess Cupcake, with its seven loop-de-loops of white icing, and Twinkies, the dessert cake with the reputation of being indestructible. Other popular snacks made by Hostess Brands include classic treats like Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Donettes, Suzy O’s, Sno Balls, Zingers Fruit Pies, and Baseballs.

Hostess Brands, LLC was formed in 2013 after almost a century of mergers and acquisitions and a decade of being in and out of Chapter 11 bankruptcies. What would become Hostess Brands took root in 1925 when the Continental Baking Company purchased the Taggart Baking Company of Indianapolis, the maker of Wonder Bread and a successful line of snack cakes. Continental would advertise these products under two trade names: “Wonder” for its bread products and “Hostess” for its cake products.