The Real Reason Hostess Went Under: The Way We Eat Has Changed [View all]
While Hostess Brands makes a host of desserts and snacks — most famously Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Ho-Hos — the company is primarily a breadmaker, and its flagship loaf is Wonder Bread.
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For decades, Wonder Bread was perhaps the most recognizable brand of sliced bread in the U.S. It’s the only brand that’s ever truly been national. It’s as American as a white picket fence. And in grocery stores throughout the country, it’s ubiquitous. Since the 1950s and ’60s, toast has been a staple of most breakfasts, while bread has been on the dinner table in almost every household.
Gradually, though, our diets have changed and our consumer preferences have shifted. Almost 95% of Americans still eat bread at least once every two weeks, according to food-industry-analysis firm NPD Group. But instead of just toast in the morning, we now have a multitude of options for breakfast: frozen waffles, toaster pastries, energy bars and, especially, yogurt.
“Yogurt’s been the problem,” says Harry Balzer, NPD Group’s chief industry analyst. “There are so many more options at breakfast, but yogurt is affecting everything because it’s very convenient.” Balzer says 45 million more Americans are eating yogurt today than 10 years ago, when only 17% of the population was buying the product. Now almost a third of Americans eat it.
Americans’ dinner preferences have changed too, with more and more opting for one-dish meals, says Balzer. Pizza, casseroles, pasta — anything that is quick and simple is what is sought after work, and the tradition of bread as a side dish is diminishing. Believe it or not, NPD Group tracks the percentage of U.S. households that include a side dish of bread at dinner. In 1984 it was 11%. Today it’s 7%.
Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/11/19/the-real-reason-why-hostess-went-under-the-way-we-eat-has-changed/#ixzz2ChXNASQO
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