Interstate Bakeries Corp

Wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States.

Interstate Bakeries Corporation was a wholesale baker and distributor of bakery products in the United States, established in 1930. It owned the Hostess, Wonder Bread, Nature's Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake's brands before its 2012 closure and liquidation. For many years the company was based at 12 East Armour Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri. In 2009, after emerging from a 2004 bankruptcy, its name was changed to Hostess Brands and its headquarters moved to Irving, Texas. Hostess Brands sought bankruptcy protection again in January 2012. On November 16, 2012, the company filed a motion in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains to close its business and sell its assets. On November 21, the motion was accepted and a judge agreed to sell the Hostess brands.

Quick Facts

Founded

1930

Former names

Interstate Bakeries Corporation (1930–1969)
Interstate Brands (1969–2009)
Host

Key brands owned

Hostess
Wonder Bread
Nature's Pride
Dolly Madison
Butternut Breads
Drake's

Bankruptcy filings

2004, January 2012

Closure motion filed

November 16, 2012

Closure approved

November 21, 2012

Facts from the source article.

Did You Know?

The company's roots go back to 1905, when Ralph Leroy Nafziger founded Nafziger Bakeries in a church basement at 6th and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City.
Interstate's stock fell from $34 per share to $2.05 when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004.
During the 2004–2009 bankruptcy period, the company closed nine of its 54 bakeries and more than 300 outlet stores, and its workforce declined from 32,000 to 22,000.
In 2012, CEO Gregory F. Rayburn cut the salaries of the four top Hostess executives to $1.

History

The company traces its roots to Nafziger Bakeries, founded by Ralph Leroy Nafziger in a church basement in Kansas City in 1905. Nafziger expanded and bought competitors, selling to Purity Bakeries in 1925 and acquiring a controlling interest in Schulze Baking Company and its Butternut Breads brand. In 1930 Nafziger announced the formation of Interstate Bakeries Corporation through the merger of Schulze Bakery and the seven bakers of Western Bakeries of Los Angeles, making it the fifth largest baker in the United States. Schulze and Western operated separately under Interstate until 1937, when they merged with Interstate. Acquisitions followed, including Supreme Baking Company in 1943, O'Rourke Baking Company in 1950, and numerous others through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1969 the company changed its name to Interstate Brands, with signature brands Butternut and Blue Seal breads and Dolly Madison cakes. In 1975 Interstate was acquired by Data Processing Financial and General Corporation, a computer-leasing company, which used its cash to buy the low-tech baker and invested heavily in its plants, acquiring Silver Loaf Baking Company, Eddy Bakeries, and Mrs. Cubbison's Foods.

Brands

In early 2013, a partnership between Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company emerged as the frontrunner to acquire the Dolly Madison and Hostess snack brands. They secured the deal on March 12 for $410 million, and Hostess products returned to store shelves on July 15. This entity later became the second iteration of Hostess Brands, which announced its acquisition by J.M. Smucker in September 2023. Bimbo Bakeries USA won the bidding for the Beefsteak brand on February 28, 2013, beating Flowers Foods, and the sale was approved by a bankruptcy court on March 20. That August, Bimbo took over the J. J. Nissen trademarks and its website, later adding regional Hostess bread brands like Colombo, Cotton's, Emperor Norton, Fisherman's Wharf, Parisian, and Toscana. Flowers Foods made an offer in January 2013 for six Hostess bread brands, including Wonder Bread, with an initial price of $360 million covering 20 bakeries and 38 depots. On February 28, Flowers won the bid for five of those brands—Butternut Bread, Home Pride, Merita Breads, Nature's Pride, and Wonder Bread—excluding Beefsteak, and the transaction closed on July 22, 2013. Lewis Brothers Bakeries acquired the rights to a number of brands in December 2013: Blue Ribbon, Braun's, Bread du Jour, Continental, Countess, County Fair, D'Agostino's, Daffodil Farm, Di Carlo, Millbrook, Nancy Martin, Old World, Ozark Mill, Pantry Pride, Sap's, and Weber's. McKee Foods, which owns Little Debbie, bought the Drake's snack cakes on March 14, 2013 for $27.5 million and started selling them on September 23. United States Bakery won an auction on March 15, 2013 for four northwestern Hostess bakeries at $30.85 million, picking up the brands Eddy's, Grandma Emile's, Standish Farms, and Sweetheart Bakery. As of December 2015, the rights to Baker's Inn and Dutch Hearth had not been sold.