Tastykake In Trouble, Etc.

A lot has happened since my previous post last week. Everything that can be said and was expected to be said over the Arizona shooting last week has been said. It’s just too bad that a legal carrying citizen wasn’t around to minimize the killing that that nutjob did. I know our prayers are with the survivors and families affected.

That said, The queen and I did some R&R in the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. Make that the snowy Smokey Mountains. Which is why the blog took a rest. We enjoyed our time away immensely even though so many eateries we wanted to hit were closed due to the 6 inches of snow on the ground. They really are not equipped to handle snow there.

Returning, the bad news is that the Tastykake Baking Co., the makers of those delicious little cakes and pies, is in a financial jam. They’re already late loan payment is due today. Anyone want to buy a little gold mine? Run right that is. Not in its present form.

Tasty last week said fourth-quarter earnings were below expectations, partly because production efficiencies at its new Navy Yard plant hadn’t materialized.

That ‘production efficiencies’ hadn’t materialized is an understatement. Their move to the Navy Yard made their already awkward production system even worse.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed (fast Eddie) Rendell said that the state would loan them $1 million if they needed it. I know his heart is in the right place on this offer. This offer was not made as a back door government takeover. But rather as a bridge to better days if they can fix their problems. After all, Tastykake has been in business since 1914. Every person in the tri-state area grew up loving Tastykakes. Especially the butterscotch krimpets. Mmmmm

Here’s hoping they can find an investor.

Link: Deadline For Tastykake

UPDATE: Tasty Baking wins reprieve, new debt financing

UPDATE 11/17/2012: That ‘production efficiencies’ did not materialize at the new facility in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, as I said above, is an understatement. But I was way off as to the reason. Press reports at the time failed to mention that there was a successful union takeover five months earlier. More on this later.

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