Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013 - (Page 21)
changed earlier this spring when Hostess accepted a $410 million offer from
HB Holdings L.L.C., an affiliate of private
equity groups Apollo Global Management
L.L.C. and Metropoulos & Co., for its
snack brands. The acquisition included
five plants, four of which reopened this
summer, leading to a full complement of
products on shelves by late October.
McKee Foods, Collegedale, Tenn., the
No. 2 sweet baked goods player, snagged
Hostess' Drake's snack cake business
with a bid of $27.5 million. During Hostess' absence from the market, McKee
experienced an uptick in demand for its
products, which are marketed under the
Little Debbie brand.
McKee kick-started the relaunch of
the Drake's snack cakes on Sept. 23 with
the roll-out of the top four selling varieties of Drake's snack cakes, a move Mike
Gloekler, director of communications at
McKee Foods, said was made because
the company knew it could get those
products "out quickly."
The Drake's snack cakes were off the
market for 10 months, and McKee spent
several months getting a handle on how
the products may effectively fit into McKee's snack cakes portfolio, which also
includes Little Debbie branded snacks.
The transition was not always easy, Mr.
Gloekler said.
"These were whole new recipes to
us," he said. "We didn't want to take existing products of ours and just repackage them. We wanted to give Drake's
consumers back what they were missing. But we had no existing prototypes
to go from. We had to test our efforts
through Drake's fans on whether we
were on the right tracks."
One Drake's product that isn't part
of the initial roll-out is Funny Bones,
which are rectangular chocolate cakes
filled with peanut butter flavored crème
and covered with milk chocolate frosting. Mr. Gloekler said Funny Bones are
Corporate Profiles
a challenge because of the inclusion of
peanut butter.
"It's not cost effective to run alongside
our current equipment," he said. "That
product almost needs its own dedicated
line."
While Funny Bones may not make it
back to market anytime soon, McKee does
have plans to expand the Drake's brand,
specifically into the breakfast market,
Mr. Gloekler said. No launch date has
been given, but new products appearing
on the company's web site and slated for
future introduction include honey buns,
blueberry muffins, banana nut muffins,
chocolate chip mini muffins, blueberry
mini muffins, cherry cheese Danish pastries and cheese Danish pastries.
Flowers Foods, Inc. and Bimbo Bakeries did not end up with any of the Hostess
snack cake brands, but have been active
in the category. Bimbo Bakeries this year
began offering snack cakes under the
Sara Lee brand.
With the introduction of snack cakes
under the Sara Lee brand, two different companies are now selling what are
broadly referred to as sweet goods under
the Sara Lee brand. In addition to B.B.U.,
Hillshire Brands Co. sells the heritage
frozen dessert products of Sara Lee, including pound cakes, cakes, cheesecakes,
pies and sweet breakfast products.
For its part, Flowers is leaning on new
partnerships to help grow its sweet goods
business. In 2012, Flowers partnered
with The Hershey Co., Hershey, Pa., to
offer Kandy Bar Kakes, and Cinnabon to
Milling & Baking News * Food Business News * Baking & Snack * Meat & Poultry
November 2013 / 21
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013
Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013
Table of Contents
Editorial - Share price performance remains at odds with food industry financials
Grain-based Foods - Break-up of Hostess reverberates across several categories during 2013
Prepared Foods - Soup category simmers while frozen foods sales stay cool
Beverages - Caffeine buzz rushes through the category
Meat and Poultry - Tight beef supplies offer opportunities for competing proteins
Dairy - Milk production grows amid industry struggles
Confectionery - Segment in recovery, but new challenges beckon
Food service - Menu trends range from better-for-you to over-the-top
Gluten-free - Grain-based foods companies get on board growing trend
F.D.A. defines ‘gluten-free’
Company Overview - Aryzta AG
Company Overview - Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de C.V.
Company Overview - Campbell Soup Co.
Company Overview - Coca-Cola Co.
Company Overview - ConAgra Foods, Inc.
Company Overview - Groupe Danone S.A.
Company Overview - Dean Foods Co.
Company Overview - Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc.
Company Overview - Flowers Foods, Inc.
Company Overview - General Mills, Inc.
Company Overview - Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
Company Overview - The H.J. Heinz Co.
Company Overview - The Hershey Co.
Company Overview - Hillshire Brands Co.
Company Overview - Hostess Brands L.L.C.
Company Overview - Kellogg Co.
Company Overview - Kraft Foods Group, Inc.
Company Overview - Mondelez International, Inc.
Company Overview - Nestle S.A.
Company Overview - Panera Bread Co.
Company Overview - PepsiCo, Inc.
Company Overview - Post Holdings, Inc.
Company Overview - Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Company Overview - The J.M. Smucker Co.
Company Overview - Snyder’s-Lance, Inc.
Company Overview - TreeHouse Foods, Inc.
Company Overview - Tyson Foods, Inc.
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