Accepting change is hard to accept.

Hostess Brands, the maker of Twinkies, Sno Balls, Wonder Bread, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and other snacks, announced last month that they have been seeking bankruptcy protection.  They are OK for now but they need to shape up their business to cut their high costs.

Do you remember those old days?

When I was in college, Twinkies were in every single vending machine on campus.  It was a great snack to satisfy my afternoon sugar craving.  I didn’t think it was bad for health.  I never thought about the long shelf life or mysterious ingredients in the sponge and cream concoctions.  It was simply tasty, sweet with a hint of saltiness.

Accepting change is hard to accept.

The biggest mistake Hostess Brands made was that they couldn’t follow the trend toward healthy lifestyles and couldn’t accept any changes.  It’s very sad.  We know that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.  But in today’s marketplace, you need to learn new tricks and evolve your merchandise/service to survive.

Ideally, your new product or service should be a trend, not a fad.

We always look for a trend, not a fad.  A trend lasts for a long time but not a fad.  You need to have an eye to tell whether it’s a trend or fad.  Basically, if it’s good for consumers/clients, it will be a trend.

Hostess Brands is such an innovative baker of America’s most iconic snack cakes.  They came up with Twinkies in 1930 and SnoBalls in 1947.  If they could invent those extended shelf-life products in the 1930’s and 1940’s, they should be able to be innovative now.  Hope it’s not too late for them.