HOSTESS:
KEY EVENTS
Selected events in Hostess Brands Inc. history:
• 1849 — John Boyd Ward starts Ward Baking Co. in New York City.
• 1925 — Company is renamed Continental Baking Co. Through acquisitions, which include Taggart Baking Co. (maker of Wonder Bread and Hostess brands), it becomes the largest commercial bakery in the United States.
• 1942 — Continental Baking Co. unit in Akron is closed for more than three months as part of a labor union dispute between the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO).
• 1959 — The AFL-CIO American Bakery and Confectionery Workers Union wins the fight to become exclusive bargaining agent for Continental employees in Akron.
• 1968 — Continental is purchased by ITT.
• 1970 — Consumer advocate Ralph Nader and associates complain to the Federal Trade Commission that Wonder Bread uses false advertising.
• 1975 — Akron and seven baking companies including ITT Continental Baking Co. settle an anti-trust action that charged them with price-fixing and rigging bids to schools and other institutions.
• 1984 — ITT Continental is purchased by Ralston Purina.
• 1995 — Continental is purchased by Interstate Bakeries.
• 2004 — Interstate Bakeries files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• 2009 — Company emerges from bankruptcy and is renamed Hostess Brands Inc.
• 2010 — Hostess Brands shuts down the Akron bakery that had been in operation since 1923.
• 2012 — In January, Hostess Brands files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In November, employees nationwide go on strike and company announces it will cease operations, lay off most of its 18,500 employees and sell assets including well-known brand names.
Source: Beacon Journal research
