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 http://conagramills.com

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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Milling & Baking News Corporate Profiles - November 2013

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