Twinkies and Ding Dongs Iced Lattes Are Now Available at Walmart
Have you ever wanted to drink a Twinkie? Well, whether or not you have, now it’s a lot easier!
On August 4, Trilliant Food & Nutrition, a manufacturer of shelf stable, ready-to-drink coffee beverages, announced that it added its line of Hostess-themed drinks to thousands of national retailers, including Walmart. Trilliant, which currently sells iced coffee beverages based on Twinkies and Ding Dongs, announced significant growth of its beverage collaboration with Hostess Brands, sharing that shoppers across the country can now find the iced lattes in 13.7oz bottles at local Walmart stores across the country.
“Consumer demand for ready-to-drink coffee remains strong especially for unique flavor experiences that Hostess snack cakes can help deliver,” said Tom Lehocky, Trilliant Food & Nutrition’s vice president of sales in a press release. “Our retail partners value the fact that we manufacture our ready-to-drink beverages within our own production facility, which eliminates many of the supply challenges other brands are experiencing and will continue to experience for the foreseeable future.”
The nation has indeed faced many shortages in the food supply chain since the pandemic began which in some cases was worsened by the Russia/Ukraine war. Affecting baby formula to hummus to soda (and also the cans they come in) and much more, any company announcing that its increasing production on a product may be welcomed by consumers as a good thing.
First introduced in 2020, Hostess’s foray into the land of liquid refreshment began with four flavors based on their sweet treats. In addition to Twinkies and Ding Dongs, there were two additional other flavors based on the chocolate and coconut flavors of Sno Balls and the sweet glazed cake taste of Honey Buns, although these flavors aren’t part of the Trilliant expansion into Walmart.
The Twinkie has been through a lot over the years, experiencing a rise to fame, fall and a return to fame again, much like any of a number of Hollywood stars you may know and love. First invented nearly a century ago in 1930, the Twinkie began as a banana-flavored cake which got replaced with a vanilla cream flavor during produce rationing of World War II..
After a rise to cultural icon status, decades of sales and appearances in movies like “Ghostbusters” in major supporting roles, the brand almost died for good a decade ago. The original Hostess company first filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and recovered for a few years until it had to file for bankruptcy again in 2012, announcing that the end of the Twinkie was nigh along with eliminating the jobs of 18,500 of its workers. Mayhem emerged from the despair of losing the cultural mainstay and people started selling Twinkies on auction site eBay for up to tens of thousands of dollars.
The current iteration of The Hostess Brands company formed in June 2013 after a venture by Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company first purchased the rights to some of the original Hostess company’s assets including the Twinkies brand after the retroactively named Old HB sold them off. Assets in this instance means frosting-filled cakes, which makes this bit of business history a little bit more palatable to swallow.
Since the acquisition, this new iteration of Hostess has expanded its classic flavors into other food items outside of the snack cake realm like cereal, ice cream and more. The company also now offers Twinkies in numerous and constantly shifting flavors like chocolate cake, fudge dipped, pickle and peanut butter, summer tropical (which is blue by the way), mixed berry, peppermint, and yes, of course, pumpkin spice, which you can now wash down with a refreshing Twinkie latte.
