Hostess Brands, which is known for its snack cakes, is expanding into breads and buns category with an aim to offer one-stop shopping for convenience and discount stores that sell its products.
This move comes after the company came up with a comeback recipe.
Following its purchase by two private equity firms in 2013, Hostess relaunched its snack cakes line but reduced costs and streamlined production. The company's reported sales are almost at their pre-liquidation level of $1.3bn, reported The Wall Street journal.
Hostess is also contemplating addition of other new baked products such as brownies.
Hostess chief executive Bill Toler was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying: "There are things we can keep doing with this business. There also are questions around cookies, but we don't want to go too far afield."
In 2013, Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management acquired Hostess out of liquidation and these firms were not initially interested in the bread category. Therefore, Hostess sold its bread brands , which included Wonder Bread and Nature's Pride to Flowers Foods and other companies.
Hostess did not reveal what types of bread it will be selling. Though Wonder Bread became a popular brand in the mid-20th century, consumer tastes have shifted since then. Several companies are planning to expand their healthier food offerings.
Hostess is planning to offer whole grain muffins later this year in flavours such as chocolate chip and birthday cake as it does not want to move away from its core offerings of indulgent treats.
Image: Hostess to re-enter bread segment. Photo: Courtesy of Gualberto107/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
