Hostess CEO Says Stressed Millennials Turn to Twinkies

Nostalgic snack brands are benefitting from millennials’ turn to comfort foods amid inflation.

Snack company Hostess Brands, for instance, best known for its Twinkies among other popular packaged baked goods such as Ding Dongs and Donettes, is seeing millennial consumers drive growth in the United States.

On a call with analysts Tuesday (Feb. 21) discussing the company’s full-year 2022 financial results, the snack maker noted that these consumers, who often grew up with Hostess products in the house, are reentering the fold as adults.

“Our ability to be able to access new millennial consumers continue[s] to drive penetration in households, continue[s] to increase the growth rate of our two times buyers always intact, and we feel good about our growth going forward,” Hostess CEO Andy Callahan said.

Callahan also noted that the company has found an audience in those who grew up with these snacks and now have their own children, noting that its products have been drawing in “millennial parents in a disproportionate way” and that the company’s focus on revitalizing familiar brands has been “resonating” with this group.

“It’s reimagining what our Hostess brand could be with the whole new generation,” Callahan said.

This is not the first time that millennials’ demand for nostalgic foods has fueled brand growth. The demand is strong enough that some food companies have brought back foods that had been discontinued in an effort to cash in on that nostalgia.

General Mills, for instance, announced the return of ’90s snack Dunkaroos in 2020, targeting zillennials, the 30 million consumers born between 1990 and 2000.

“For those who grew up in the ’90s, the original cookie-frosting combo represents the taste, color and fun of being a kid during that decade,” Jeff Caswell, president of snacks at General Mills, said in a statement at the time. “We know there’s a lot of love for Dunkaroos, and fans everywhere have been asking for it. We’re excited to help ’90s kids relive all the best parts of childhood.”

The demand fueling these kinds of returns is heightened in times of stress. A Mintel analysis of flavor trends observed that consumers’ desire for familiar snacks is increased in these periods.

“Nostalgic flavors and products bring a sense of comfort in a time when consumers seem more affected by stress than ever before,” Alyssa Hangartner, consumer insights analyst of flavor and ingredient trends at Mintel, noted. “Desserts and confection flavors that solidified a sweet spot in consumer repertoires remove the barrier of trying an unfamiliar flavor in a category where consumers are looking for guaranteed enjoyment.”

Research from PYMNTS’ study “Consumer Inflation Sentiment: Inflation’s Long Consumer Spending Shadow,” which drew from a survey of more than 2,400 U.S. adults, found that two-thirds of consumers were very or extremely concerned about the outlook for the coming months. Eight out of 10 concerned consumers said inflation caused them to feel worried about the future, while 45% said difficulty paying their bills has soured their outlook.

In these times, consumers turn to snacking, as Hershey observed earlier this month.

“Chocolate and salty snacks rank as two of the top-three resilient treats that consumers are not willing to forgo,” Hershey Company CEO Michele Buck said. “Chocolate moments are such a heavily integrated part of consumers’ weekly routines, from rewarding moments to stress relief to self-care, and everything in between, that they indicate they would rather cut back on other expenses to make room for chocolate because they love it so much and it’s affordable.”