Have Hostess products changed?

I loved Hostess cherry pies too and blueberry I worked for two years at a convenience store and the dealer said that if sales are low that they don’t send shipments to a certain area… I was told that it is hard to get Hostess cherry fruit pies west of Ontario. Try to find a lemon fruit pie… I don’t know if they ever make them anymore.

Even my friend bought a box of Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes and she did not like them at all. I believe the new ownership/management is doing a large disgrace to the Hostess brand name.

I haven’t tried any Hostess products recently. My best guess is maybe they are using a different type of oil or fat in the products. Or, maybe a flavoring is different. I really notice when something is made with butter, margarine, lard, or vegetable shortening. Different margarines are sooo different.

I recommend you call the company and complain. I have done it more than once when a product has changed in flavor. My mom did it when Coke changed, and we all know Coke went back to the old formula. Although, some people question if it really is the same. I called when Fleishmann’s margarine tasted different, and customer service said they were so overloaded with calls they already had changed the formula back and it should be on the shelves in a month.

I know in TN, where I was living when Hostess went out of business, the shelves started to fill with more Entemann’s products. I was so glad! Entemann’s was almost impossible to find there. I love Hostess Ho Ho’s, but for almost any other baked good in a package Entemann’s is far superior. I wonder if a percentage of the market has already changed their behavior to buying the other brands that were filling the shelves.

Different owner, different bakery, different ingredients. I’m not sure of the details, but there’s probably discussion boards on food sites like Chow Hound.

They changed Twinkies recipe and the shelf life to 45 days.

As someone else said, the workers created a union and the company went bankrupt. They didn’t bake anything for several months. Then they were bought, relocated, and I am sure changed their recipes some.

So I think that you are probably seeing the effects of new ownership, new kitchen, new recipe, and cost savings.

I am also a fan of the cherry pies, and I thought they tasted different.
Maybe it’s like making coffee from an unwashed pot, which people swear is better.

I never really thought Hostess’ stuff was all that great to begin with. I don’t know why everyone mourned the loss of Twinkies, of all things.

I’ve never actually eaten a Twinkie before. They just look vile.

@El_Cadejo

I wouldn’t go as far to say that they’re vile, just terribly bland.

@Darth_Algar By vile I mean horribly artificial.

I think the orange cupcakes taste the same. I tried the Twinkies too and didn’t notice any difference. I never eat those pies.

Hostess products are high in Vitamin b… I don’t know why people stopped eating them my best guess is that the price was raised too much from $0.99 to 2.39 in 15 years.

There’s probably better ways to get vitamin B than from junk food.

Toward the end of the last Hostess ownership, there was a huge push to reduce costs. I think it’s highly likely that the cherry pie was in re-formulation when Hostess went belly-up and the current owners are following the the “current” recipes as they were given.

I worked for a multinational food maker for 20 years, and it’s incredibly difficult to change a recipe/formulation/ingredient panel/packaging. My guess is that Hostess had a new recipe for Cherry Pies that didn’t make it to the market long, or that the old Hostess management applied for new formulations to screw the new company.

I would email Hostess directly. I’m sure they want to know, because a number of companies entered their market during the troubles. Tell them you want nothing more than the ability to buy a cherry pie.