MEDIA

HOSTESS® CUPCAKES CELEBRATE 90 YEARS AS AMERICA’S FAVORITE CUPCAKE

FIRST CUPCAKE BAKED IN 1919; FAMOUS “SQUIGGLES”
INTRODUCED 30 YEARS LATER

Irving, TX – September 14, 2009 – Hostess® is proudly celebrating 90 sweet years of the brand’s iconic squiggle-topped cupcake – the best selling snack cake in history. For almost a century, the delicious icing, freshly baked cake and signature vanilla-crème filling of Hostess CupCakes have made this treat one of America’s favorite snacks generation after generation.

• Call it a cupcake caper. Mystery surrounds who "invented" the original Hostess CupCake in 1919, however, we know it was baking executive D.R. "Doc" Rice who, more than 30 years later in 1950, added the signature seven squiggles and vanilla-crème filling. While others have tried to capitalize on the popularity of this ubiquitous decoration, the squiggle – which features seven loops on every cupcake – is unmistakably Hostess.
• Hostess CupCakes are the best selling snack cakes in history. And it’s the Hostess CupCake – not the Hostess Twinkie® – that holds the spot as the best selling Hostess snack cake year after year.
• Americans eat more than 600 million Hostess CupCakes every year.
• One of America’s BBQ capitals has a sweet spot for Hostess CupCakes. Residents of Memphis, Tennessee eat the most Hostess CupCakes per capita of any city across the country followed by:
• St. Louis
• Cincinnati
• Las Vegas
• Louisville
• While it's hard to improve on perfection, consumers have been able to sink their teeth into a few twists on the original over the years, including the popular Golden CupCakes, which debuted in 1999. Hostess also offers seasonal themed cupcakes including “Baseballs” in the spring - cupcakes with vanilla icing and red-swirl “stitching.”
• Captain CupCake, who was introduced in the 1970s, is one of several Hostess snack “mascots” along with everyone’s favorite cowboy, Twinkie the Kid®.
• The original Hostess CupCake slogan was "You get a big delight in every bite!"

For more information about Hostess products visit www.hostesscakes.com. Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/Hostess_Snacks.

Interstate Brands Corporation, the maker of Hostess products, is one of the nation’s largest wholesale bakers and distributors of fresh baked bread and sweet goods under various brand names including Wonder®, Hostess®, Nature’s Pride®, Dolly Madison®, Home Pride®, Merita® and Drake’s®. For more information visit www.interstatebakeriescorp.com.

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