Baking&Snack - October 2013 - 14

Flowers begins rollout
of Wonder bread
Wonder, Merita, Home Pride and Butternut
returned to the fresh bread aisle via Flowers
Foods’ direct-store-delivery footprint beginning in late September and into October.
Flowers completed the acquisition of
the bread brands from the former Hostess
Brands in late July, and since that time,
Flowers has discussed its roll-out plans
with trade customers, who have been supportive of the company’s strategy.
“We are focused on leveraging these
new brands to gain incremental sales,”
Allen Shiver, president and CEO of the
Thomasville, GA.-based baking company
told participants at the Barclays Back-toSchool Conference held September in
Boston. “We have the original recipes for
the acquired brands, and with the reintroduction, we’re offering the traditional taste
and flavor profile. Product quality, product
freshness and service levels are all-important as we bring the brands back to the fresh
bread aisle. Each of our bakeries has a specific plan that takes into consideration the
strength of our acquired brands as well as
the incremental volume we’ve gained since
Hostess exited. Many white bread consumers are brand loyal, so we have calculated the
incremental volume we expect once these
brands are available again.”
As the nation’s second-largest wholesale baker behind Bimbo Bakeries USA.,
Flowers gained much of the volume when
Hostess exited, but some went to store
brands and to Bimbo and other competitors’ brands, Mr. Shiver said.
When these four former Hostess bread
brands are on the shelf again later this fall,
though, he said Flowers expects consumers
to react “very favorably.”
“I have confidence in our ability to execute our plans in our core markets in the
South as well as our expansion markets,”
he said. “Our expansion markets offer the
greatest potential for incremental sales. As
we’ve entered new markets without acquisitions, we’ve used Nature’s Own effectively.

/ Baking & Snack / October 2013

Tastykake has also performed well in our
new markets. What we have not had in our
branded lineup for new markets is the strong
white bread brand. Our research shows that
Wonder, Home Pride and the other brands
we are acquiring will help fill that need. Our
research shows that consumers have a high
regard for the Wonder brand. In fact, 74%
said that Wonder is a legendary part of the
American diet. Home Pride and our other
acquired brands also tested very well.”
As Flowers reintroduces the Wonder,
Home Pride, Merita and Butternut brands,
the company plans to connect with consumers in a variety of ways, including social media and traditional media, Mr. Shiver said.
“Our regional white bread brands will
have publicity and local support as they
are reintroduced in the markets where they
have had strong sales,” he said.
For example, Mr. Shiver said Flowers
plans to tie the relaunch of Wonder to a
NASCAR event. In addition to having a car
compete in the races, Flowers plans to use
creative marketing to connect the Wonder
brand to NASCAR fans, Mr. Shiver said.
Flowers also plans to use the Wonder
brand to partner with the Children’s
Miracle Network to help children’s hospitals. Under the theme “Wonder’s back and
Wonder gives back,” Flowers has committed to give 5¢ for every loaf of Wonder
Classic and Wonder Whole Grain White
that is sold from Oct. 1 through the end of
2013 to the cause.
“Wonder gives back is a great way to tie
our reintroduction into one of our core
giving strategies: to support programs that
help children in need,” Mr. Shiver said.
— Eric Schroeder,
Milling & Baking News

The US Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA)
awarded Kansas State University
a grant of $104,901 to address the
risk from grain dust at mills and
elevators. “This grantee will provide
training to workers and employers
on how to prevent grain dust explosions,” OSHA said.
Snyder’s-Lance, Charlotte, NC, acquired Stateline Service Corp., a snack
food distributor based in Ludlow, MA.
Snyder’s-Lance said the acquisition is
part of the company’s plan to expand
its national distribution network.
Stateline has a direct-store-delivery
system and distributes Snyder’s-Lance
products. The routes will be integrated
with the Snyder’s-Lance network.
A US Bankruptcy Court judge in
New York approved the sale of the
remaining assets of Hostess Brands,
Inc. (Old HB, Inc.) to Los Angelesbased Hackman Capital Acquisition
Co., in August for $62.5 million. The
transaction includes certain real estate, machinery, equipment and fleet
assets located in 34 states that were
not sold after the company ceased
operations in November 2012.
The Grain Foods Foundation
launched www.GrainsForYourBrain.org,
an interactive website targeting consumers. Christine Cochran, the group’s
executive director, called the site a “new
digital outpost” for the foundation.
Non-bioengineered food and beverage sales will be about $178 billion in
2013, which will account for almost
a quarter of all US food and beverage
sales, according to the report “NonGMO Foods: US Market Perspective”
released in September by Packaged
Facts. By 2017, non-bioengineered
food and beverage sales may have a
value of about $264 billion, or about
30% of all US food and beverage sales.

http://www.grainsforyourbrain.org

Baking&Snack - October 2013

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