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Hershey launches new brand to get piece of China market.

Foxconn confirms employee deaths.

Best Buy swings to a loss on lower revenues.

Burberry is lifted by China performance.

Chevrolet joins Mad Men buzz on Twitter.

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Flowers Foods predicts "record year" after acquisition of Hostess brands.

Giorgio Armani profit is boosted by Asia.

GrubHub and Seamless merge their food ordering services.Continue reading...

ESPN apologizes for comments by commentator after NBA player announces he's gay.

Honda recalls almost 46,000 Fits in North America.

Chrysler sees profit tumble on poorly executed product launches.

Alibaba and Sina form alliance of China online businesses.

Apple files for new technology that tells whether to text or call friends.

Asos prepares marketing drive to grow global brand.

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Best Buy sells Europe unit back to Carphone Warehouse.

BlackBerry CEO questions future of tablets (which brand doesn't have).Continue reading...

Twinkies may be back on store shelves by July, but it’ll be a whole new set of bakers that are pulling them out of the ovens. Their one uniting characteristic? They won’t be union members.

When Hostess Brands, the former owner of Twinkies, had to shut down because it couldn’t come to an agreement with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union, processed baked-good lovers became fearful that they’d never see their beloved cakes again and immediately went to their local grocery stores to clear out the shelves of any products that remained. 

Since then, of course, Hostess has been sold for $410 million to investment bankers Apollo Global Management and Pabst owner Metropoulos & Co., who plan to put another $60 million in capital investments into fixing up and reopening four of the 11 plants Hostess used, according to the Wall Street Journal. It may open a fifth as well, but the bankers are aiming to make the whole shebang run a lot more efficiently. The reopened plants should run at 90 to 95 percent capacity while some of the ones that will remain closed ran at less than 50 percent capacity, the Journal notes.Continue reading...

After filing for bankruptcy protection in November and laying off its workers, Hostess has finally found buyers to pony up about $800 million for the majority of its baked goods brands.

According to Associated Press, a bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of Hostess Brands' iconic Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos to two investment firms, Apollo Global Management and Pabst owner Metropoulos & Co., for $410 million. The judge also approved the sale of Hostess-owned Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Butternut, Home Pride and Merita bread brands to Tastykakes owner Flowers Foods, for $360M.

Beefsteak, a Hostess-owned regional bread brand, also was approved for a $31.9 million sale to Mexico's Grupo Bimbo, which surfaced early in the Hostess bankruptcy auction as a potential buyer and acquired Sara Lee's North American bakery business in 2010.Continue reading...

Reuters editor faces charges of helping "Anonymous" hack site when he was with Tribune.

McKee Foods picks up Drakes brand from Hostess.

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Center for Science in the Public Interest blasts Nickelodeon for airing junk food ads.

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The world has been restored to its rightful order, folks. The snack-cake division of Hostess has accepted a buyer bid from Apollo Global Management Group and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million. 

Hostess was to conduct an auction later this week for snack brands including Twinkies, CupCakes, Ho Hos and Ding Dongs, however no competing bids were received by the deadline. Apollo, in partnership with veteran food executive Dean Metropoulos, has reportedly said that they are aiming to have the snack cakes back on shelves by summer, according to the Chicago Tribune.Continue reading...

Some folks pay a couple of bucks for a loaf of bread. Some folks pay $360 million. 

That’s how much Flower Foods is shelling out to take over the baking privileges of Wonder Bread, which has been on the block since Hostess declared bankruptcy last year.

As part of the deal, Flowers will also pick up Butternut, Home Pride, Merita and Nature’s Pride bread lines since there were no other bidders involved, Reuters reports. The plan had been to auction off the properties Thursday but no other interested parties stepped up.

According to Hostess' numbers, the six different bread brands brought in $1 billion in sales last year and Wonder was responsible for around half of that, the New York Post reports. That would be a sweet addition to the $3 billion Flower Foods already reportedly brings in.

Hostess’s Beefsteak bread line, on the other hand, does have at least two parties interested. The Wall Street Journal reports that Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo, the makers of Entenmann's, Sara Lee and Thomas', has bid $1 million more than the $30 million Flowers has offered for the line, so an auction will take place. Continue reading...

Carnival Cruise Lines sees brand perceptions drop to all-time low.

J.C. Penney losses snowball as boost in ad spending can't reverse sales declline.

Facebook inks deal to show ads based on shopping habits.

AC/DC rocks their own signature brand of beer.

American Express pushes e-commerce to TV commerce.

Apple preaches patience.

Boeing apologizes for Dreamliner fiasco.

Caesars looks to web gambling for financial help.

Flowers Foods set to buy Wonder, other Hostess brands for $390 million.Continue reading...