KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marking 85 years since the Twinkie debuted, Hostess Brands LLC has introduced The Twinkies Cookbook, Twinkies 85th Anniversary Edition, a collection featuring more than 50 recipes created by Twinkie aficionados and notable chefs throughout the country.

Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, the cookbook’s concoctions include Twinkling Turkey, Deep-Fried, Bacon-Wrapped, Chocolate-Covered Twinkies and Chicken & Winkies.

The book debuts two years after Hostess Brands mounted what it called “The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever,” returning to store shelves following a groundswell of fan support after a bankruptcy temporarily took the snack cakes out of stores.

Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. bought the snack maker out of bankruptcy for $410 million in March 2013

“Hostess is a brand rooted in innovation, and nowhere is that spirit more embodied than in the Twinkie, the crème filled, sponge cake sensation that has set the gold standard for snack cakes for 85 years,” said Ellen Copaken, senior director of marketing at Hostess Brands. “We thank the legions of fans who made their voices heard to pave the way for the return of the iconic Hostess brand and especially those who channeled their creativity and culinary wizardry to make this cookbook possible.”

The history of the Twinkie dates back to early 1930. Hoovervilles were sprouting from state to state, the Chrysler Building neared completion in New York and bakery manager James A. Dewar—10 years after starting his career driving a horse-drawn pound cake wagon for the Continental Baking Co. outside Chicago—came up with an idea. Continental was looking for a new, inexpensive product that would appeal to frugal consumers in the tight economy. Why not use the company’s stockpile of shortcake pans to create a treat that could be sold year-round?

He whipped up the celebrated recipe by injecting smooth and creamy banana filling into the oblong golden finger cakes. Unlike strawberries, which were only in season for six weeks during the summer, bananas were readily available year-round.

As for the name, a St. Louis billboard advertising “Twinkle Toe Shoes” provided the inspiration Dewar needed. He was quoted as saying he “shortened it to make it a little zippier for the kids.”

Dewar’s new two-for-a-nickel treat was an instant hit.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Hostess Brands now sells nearly half a billion Twinkies each year.

MANCHESTER & GLASTONBURY, Conn. — Members of the Gasoline & Automotive Service Dealers of America (GASDA) who live in Connecticut can now get a 5% discount on auto insurance policies from Nationwide Insurance.

The savings come from an exclusive group auto insurance program developed by GoodWorks Insurance for GASDA and its members. GASDA has about 375 members in Connecticut.

An independent insurance agency in Glastonbury, Conn., GoodWorks Insurance donates 50% of its operating profits to local nonprofits that support education, healthcare and public safety through GoodWorks Community Grants.

“Our members and their families can now enjoy a valuable benefit,” said GASDA executive director Michael J. Fox. “And part of their premiums will come back to support charities in their communities.”

Additional savings are available to members who also place their home or apartment insurance with Nationwide.

GASDA also named GoodWorks Insurance its top recommended independent insurance agency for its members’ business insurance. GoodWorks offers members two major advantages, Fox said.

First, it offers one-stop shopping among the many carriers it represents. Because gas stations have installed new federally mandated safety equipment over the last several years, they are low-risk now, Fox said. But many insurance companies haven’t recognized that and have kept their rates high.

“GoodWorks canvasses the broad market, finds the most competitive rates and provides comprehensive business coverage for our members,” Fox said.

Second, it provides hands-on local service. “They’re like the doctor in the old days, who took the time to talk to you,” he said. “They’re very good at diagnosis and making sure that service stations are neither underinsured nor over-insured.”

Based in Manchester, Conn., GASDA consists of Connecticut gas stations and auto service stations.

LAVAL, Quebec – While he touted the company’s performance and its “strongest growth since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008,” Brian Hannasch, president and CEO, spent a significant portion of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s fiscal 2015 fourth-quarter earnings call focusing on the March 2015 acquisition of the approximately 1,500 stores of The Pantry Inc.

Couche-Tard reported net earnings of $129.5 million, a 10.8% decline over last year’s $145.1 million. Non‑recurring restructuring and integration costs of $22.2 million in connection with the acquisition of Cary, N.C.-based The Pantry affected results.

Click here for CSP Daily News coverage of Couche-Tard’s quarterly and fiscal 2015 results.

Couche-Tard reported the $850.7-million deal recorded earnings transaction costs of $900,000 in connection with this acquisition.

“We’re already working actively on the integration of The Pantry, and all indicators we have point towards an impressive contribution potential towards our company’s growth,” Hannasch said.

As of the close of the company’s fiscal-year 2015, Hannasch said Couche-Tard has taken actions that should result in cost reductions of $45 million (before taxes) on an annual basis. Couche-Tard estimates it will be able to realize a minimum of $85 million in annual cost reductions over the next 24 months.

“We believe we can turn around The Pantry’s previous trends with strong net growth in sales and volumes in the coming quarters in addition to achieving the cost-reduction targets we’ve previously communicated,” he said.

“We are applying all of our best practices to The Pantry’s network, and the integration is going well,” Hannasch said ahead of the call. “In line with our business model, our people are already actively working on sharing best practices, benchmarking and on the identification and realization of synergies, which should not only benefit our newly acquired network but also our existing network.”

He continued, “We have just completed The Pantry’s budget process, and I am very excited about what I have seen and heard. The opportunities are plentiful, and our teams are eager to make the most of them. I am confident that we will be able to meet our objectives.”

“Our return on capital employed dropped slightly on a pro forma basis following the acquisition of The Pantry, as expected, but we are still best in class,” Raymond Paré, vice president and CFO, said ahead of the call. “We are already hard at work to bring it back to a level in line with our expectations. To achieve this, we will use the usual tools we have at our disposal, including the realization of synergies and other opportunities coming from the acquisition of The Pantry and those still available in Europe as well as our proven ability to generate strong and sustainable organic growth.”

Acquisitions such as The Pantry are not the only area where Couche-Tard has (and will continue) to grow its network. Hannasch said his team has done “an outstanding job in terms of network growth and improvements” to new and existing retail locations.

Throughout 2015, Couche-Tard completed the construction, relocation or rebuilding of 72 stores and added 32 single sites for a total of 104 added or improved sites. As of April 26, 2015, the company had 26 stores under construction that should open in the coming quarters.

“I’m particularly pleased with the performance of our newly constructed sites,” Hannasch said. “Our plans for 2016 are to step up our activity in this space.”

In terms of growth inside the stores, Hannasch focused on two major areas: private label and foodservice.

“It’s a never-ending journey to continue to look for new ways to provide convenience to our consumers,” he said. “Certainly, right now, top of mind is private label.”

Couche-Tard has “stepped up significantly” its private-label offering, introducing more than 100 items in North America since May 2014.

“Our efforts in this area are paying off,” said Hannasch. “Private label continues to be one of the fastest-growing product ‘cats’ we have.”

As for food, Couche-Tard is focusing on two options: fresh delivered food programs and prepared onsite offerings. Hannasch said there are some 700 stores with fresh delivered food (including pastries, salads, fresh sandwiches, and fruit cups), a program that started four-to-five years ago.

“We feel good about the top-line results,” he said. “We’ve worked hard this year to optimize the logistics costs and spoilage. We continue to feel better and better about their performance. As such, as we enter our new fiscal year, we’re planning to add another 300 stores [to the program] this coming year in a variety of geographies.”

The prepared onsite program is admittedly newer and smaller. The company has launched three pilot stores in Houston with a goal to add 30 to 40 locations in the coming fiscal year. Hannasch said bigger, new-to-industry sites with high traffic flows and more rural stores were prime candidates for the onsite foodservice program.

“It’s very early, but we’re cautiously pleased with results,” he said. “We’ve responded to our customers’ desire for fresh and convenient foods by increasing our offer both in terms of quality and quantity.”

HOUSTON — Cardtronics Inc., a leading retail ATM owner and operator, completed its acquisition of Columbus Data Services LLC on July 1. CDS is a leading independent processor of ATM and payment-card transactions, providing leading-edge solutions to ATM sales and service organizations and financial institutions.

CDS will operate as a separate division of Cardtronics and will continue to be led by the current management team.

The acquisition of CDS adds a dedicated technology platform for servicing ATM deployers that address independent retail locations. CDS currently services more than 90,000 ATM terminals for bank and non-bank ATM deployers and has a growing base of financial institution customers for card processing services.

The mobile and online management technology offered by CDS gives its customers self-service tools to manage their ATM portfolios efficiently and in real-time. Its technology infrastructure and direct connections to all major U.S. debit and credit payment networks provides a highly scalable platform for growth.

“CDS’ … presence in processing ATMs in independent retail locations is highly complementary with Cardtronics’ strength in the larger-chain retail market,” Cardtronics CEO Steve Rathgaber said. “We look forward to bringing Cardtronics’ deeper resources, extensive distribution channels and differentiated ATM product set to CDS to accelerate its growth and provide greater value to its customers.”

The aggregate purchase price was approximately $80 million, subject to customary closing adjustments; Cardtronics funded the acquisition with borrowings under its credit facility.

CDS, based in Dallas, is a leading ATM and issuer processor, providing ATM ISOs, financial institutions and merchants with ATM driving and management services, network gateway access and debit-card management services.

Houston-based Cardtronics owns and operates more than 111,500 retail ATMs in United States  and international locations.

NEW YORK — North Atlantic Trading Co. Inc.’s (NATC) attorneys at Venable LLP, led by Marcella Ballard of the firm’s New York office, have successfully executed seizure orders on merchants and wholesalers found to be selling counterfeit Zig-Zag cigarette paper products.

The seizure orders are part of North Atlantic’s strategy of zero tolerance against counterfeit goods imported into the United States.

“North Atlantic takes intellectual property infringement seriously and will prosecute known violators to the fullest extent of the law,” said Ballard, an intellectual-property partner and member of the firm’s brand protection group. “We have obtained three successful ex parte seizure orders to conduct successful raids on counterfeiters over the past year and will continue to actively enforce anti-counterfeiting measures against any and all violators.”

Ballard’s and NATC’s efforts against counterfeit Zig-Zag products have in the past resulted in the seizure of businesses, significant multi-million dollar judgments and criminal liability with federal prison sentences and deportation.

Zig-Zag cigarette paper products are a popular brand of rolling papers that originated in France. The papers, which come in five sizes, are made largely from flax and use natural gum Arabic. They are imported and distributed in the United States and Canada by Louisville, Ky.-based North Atlantic Trading.

Venable LLP is based in Washington, D.C.

READINGTON, N.J. — QuickChek has maximized its involvement with the New Jersey Festival of Ballooning over the years to build its convenience-store brand, introduce new menu items and showcase its customer service to a large audience. At the festival, July 24-26 at Solberg Airport in Readington, QuickChek is launching its new Q Café on a large scale.

Q Café offers nearly 40 varieties of handcrafted hot and iced cold drinks, fresh-brewed cappuccinos, lattes and espressos; blended-to-order fruit smoothies; and frozen chocolate treats.

“The balloon festival is our No. 1 branding event,” said QuickChek CEO Dean Durling, whose family-owned company’s title sponsorship of 23 years is the longest-running sponsorship of any festival in the United States. “It has proven to be a great way to introduce consumers to our brand and to our newest offerings.”

The convenience-store chain has opened Q Cafés in its newest stores to “great success,” it said. At the festival, attendees can enjoy these same drinks.

Hot drinks including seven varieties of cappuccinos; seven varieties of lattes; two kinds of hot chocolate; and espresso brewed with freshly ground QuickChek Dark Roast espresso beans.

Cold beverages include six kinds of blended-to-order smoothies with real fruit purees. Frozen latte flavors feature caramel, mocha, and vanilla. And adding to the Festival’s wow factor: decadent frozen chocolate and frozen white chocolate drinks with caramel, banana, mango, strawberry, strawberry banana and superfruit.

The Q Café pairs well with QuickChek’s 2,700-square-foot, air-conditioned replica store at the festival, where attendees can enjoy custom-made oven-toasted subs, premium salads and wraps, breakfast sandwiches, hot and iced coffees and frozen drinks. The Q Café will be located across from the store.

“We’re very happy to offer our attendees another great dining experience,” said festival executive producer Howard Freeman, who noted that patrons can dine outside the QuickChek store under umbrella-covered tables or in the enormous QuickChek hospitality tent, which provides families with the opportunity to relax together in between balloon ascensions and headlining concerts.

Featuring 100 sport and special-shaped hot-air balloons from around the world, the 33rd annual QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning in Association with PNC Bank is the largest summertime hot-air balloon and music festival in North America.

QuickChek, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., currently operates 140 convenience stores in New York and New Jersey.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tesoro Corp. has paid more than $1 million in penalties for violating California reformulated gasoline regulations.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has fined San Antonio, Texas-based Tesoro, which has two of its six refineries in California, $1.01 million for four separate violations over a period of 52 violation days.

According to CARB, in three of the cases Tesoro sold, offered for sale, supplied or offered for supply gasoline that had a sulfur, aromatics or olefin content exceeding California’s specified limits. The sulfur and hydrocarbon compounds worsen air pollution. In each of the three cases, the offending fuel entered the marketplace and was discovered during routine sampling by CARB inspectors.

Tesoro blamed laboratory issues for the noncompliant fuel and said it made changes to procedures to prevent future violations.
In a fourth incident, Tesoro had incorrectly combined conventional gasoline and California reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (CARBOB) at Kinder Morgan’s Concord terminal. Tesoro self-disclosed this violation, and cited operator error. None of this fuel entered the market.
Officials at CARB note that Tesoro cooperated fully and took steps to comply, to reduce the number of violation days and to prevent future similar incidents. About three-quarters of the $1 million in penalties will go to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, while the remaining money will go into a fund to pay for retrofitting school buses with diesel particulate filters.

San Antonio-based Tesoro is an independent refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Through its subsidiaries, it operates six refineries in the western United States with a combined capacity of more than 850,000 barrels per day and ownership in a logistics business which includes a 35% interest in Tesoro Logistics and ownership of its general partner. Tesoro’s retail-marketing system includes more than 2,200 gas stations under the ARCO, Shell, Exxon, Mobil, USA Gasoline and Tesoro brands.

FERGUSON, Mo. – The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis Inc. (ULSTL) hosted a groundbreaking on July 9 in Ferguson, Mo., on the site of the former QuikTrip convenience store looted and burned during the riot following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014.

The new Urban League Community Empowerment Center of Ferguson will feature programs, including job training, from the Urban League and various social service partners to serve the surrounding neighborhoods.

Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip Corp. donated the property in March.

“We are grateful to the community for enabling us to build the Community Empowerment Center of Ferguson. It is our hope that the center will assist thousands of young men and their families throughout the North County area,” said Michael P. McMillan, president and CEO of the ULSTL.

The new facility will house the Urban League’s “Save Our Sons” workforce program, which will provide job training and placement services for up to 500 African-Americans and other young men in Ferguson and North St. Louis County over the next two years. It also initially will have offices for Provident, Better Family Life, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Home State Health.

Construction management firm Kwame Building Group Inc. will provide owner’s representative services for the new community center.

“The Urban League believes their mission of helping African American men find jobs includes giving them the opportunity to build the center itself,” said Joshua Randall, president of Kwame Building Group. “So an important part of our role as construction manager is to achieve the maximum MBE and minority workforce participation possible.”

The new building will be an expansion of the Urban League’s existing job training and education efforts. The center will offer four-week job-training programs to help young black men learn how to get jobs, keep them and work towards promotions. The center also will offer counseling for housing, rent and utility assistance and mental health services provided by Provident Inc.

“We want to be part of our community’s healing. For this community to be everything it can be, these young men need the opportunity to be everything they can be.”

“We want to be part of the solution, and we are not leaving Ferguson,” QuikTrip board member Michael Johnson said when the company donated the property. “We want to be part of our community’s healing. For this community to be everything it can be, these young men need the opportunity to be everything they can be.”

Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip operates more than 700 convenience stores in 11 states: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

CHICAGO – Imported-wine volume is in need of a consumption infusion.

The glimmer of hope might be this: Of all the various alcohol beverage segments, wine consumers overindex on diversity. Wine drinkers are considered more likely to try new types of wines than consumers of spirits and beer are.

According to Technomic’s soon-to-be-released 2015 WineTAB report, volume of imported table wine declined in 2014, and the 2015 outlook is similar, said Donna Hood Crecca, senior director of the Technomic Adult Beverage Resource Group, in a recent blog.

Indeed, imported wine has struggled in recent years, while domestic wine continues to grow. Various factors are contributing to lagging import consumption, including challenges faced by some leading brands.

With per capita wine consumption continuing to rise, consumers indicate greater familiarity with domestic wines than imported, with only 5% report being more familiar with imported than domestic wines, according to the On-Premise Wine study.

“The best routes to growth for imported wine likely lie in building consumer awareness and tapping into emerging preferences,” Crecca wrote.

Fortunately there is another ace in the hole that can have an effect: Wine consumers are regarded as the most brand-adventurous. For example, 19% of consumers who purchase several times a year have tried more than 10 brands in the past year, according to a recent Nielsen survey of more than 2,000 adult beer, wine or spirits drinkers.

And the more wine they buy, the more new offerings they try: Thirty-three percent of wine drinkers who purchase once a week have tried more than 10 brands in the past year, according to Nielsen.

Paling by comparison, only 15% of beer drinkers and 5% of spirits drinkers who purchase several times per year have tried more than 10 brands in the past year.

Crecca pointed out that when ordering wine in restaurants and bars, “consumers are not always aware of the origin of the wine they select; on their most recent occasion, three in 10 did not know if the wine ordered was imported or domestic.”

Evolving consumer wine preferences point to opportunities for imported wine, particularly among younger consumers who show higher interest in different wine varietals and styles than their older counterparts do, she wrote.  

For example, three in 10 younger consumers (ages 21-34) report ordering the Spanish wine Albariño in restaurants and bars once a month or more often, notably more than the 12% of those 35 and older who say the same. Slightly more than one-third (36%) of younger consumers report ordering a Malbec varietal as frequently, as compared with 17% of older consumers.

“Given the interest in exploration and authenticity, particularly among younger consumers, raising consumers’ awareness of the range of varietals available and educating them about wine origins may spark increased interest and sales and turn the tide for imported wine,” Crecca wrote.

MINONG, Wis. — Jack Link’s, a leading meat snack manufacturer has introduced Jack Link’s Original Chicken Jerky.

“With the ever-growing popularity of healthier snacking options and the incredible success of our Turkey Jerky, we want to provide consumers with another great, snacking option,” said Kevin Papacek, director of marketing for Jack Link’s.

Filling consumers’ need for a portable, shelf-stable chicken snack, Jack Link’s Original Chicken Jerky is a source of protein for on-the-go lifestyles. Naturally low in fat and carbs, one serving has 11 grams of protein, is 98% fat-free and has 80 calories.

Jack Link’s Original Chicken Jerky starts with lean white meat chicken breast seasoned and marinated with cracked black pepper and sweet and savory spices. The tender chicken strips are then smoked. The strips are then sliced so they are sized for snacking.

Jack Link’s Original Chicken Jerky is now available at retail locations across the country for a suggested retail price of $6.99.
Based in Minong, Wis., Jack Link’s is a family-owned company that offers more than 100 premium protein snacks in a variety of flavors, sizes and price points, appealing to nearly every consumer and occasion.