At Least One Hostess Plant Reopened, Prepping To Re-Snackify Store Shelves

It’s been many months since Twinkies, Drake’s Cakes, Ding Dongs and numerous other sugary sweet snacks vanished from stores following the shutdown of parent company Hostess Brands. Now comes a whiff of really good news for snack fans, as at least one of the shuttered plants is prepping to go back into production.

The Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, GA, reports that the local Dolly Madison plant — which didn’t just make those treats, but also the aforementioned Twinkies and Ding Dongs — is showing signs of life again, with a half-full parking lot, as workers ramp up to starting production again, hopefully in July.

The plant was shuttered back in November, 2012, so there are lots of important things to do before the plant can get back to spitting out snack cakes.

“You’ve got to run and test product and train (workers) and all of that stuff,” a company rep tells the Ledger-Enquirer.

The plant had employed more than 400 people before it closed. The reopened plant will initially have around half that number, with the possibility of up to 300 staffers eventually working at the plant.

The new owners won’t say if this plant will be churning out the same variety of snacks it did before the brands were sold off. Regardless, the company has said it does plan to have Twinkies back on store shelves at some point in July.

In addition to the Georgia plant, the new Hostess has previously confirmed plans to restart snack-baking operations in Kansas, Indiana, and Illinois.

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