The Hostess body may still be warm, but other snack cake companies want to cash in people's desire, albeit lessening, to have a snack cake for dessert.
While Hostess represented Americana, its replacement in the snack aisle might be Canadian?
We have previously talked about the cakes from Vachon that have made their way to some parts of the United States: Jos. Louis and May West, for example.
The company has confirmed what we already know: Vachon wants to bring more of its Canadian delights into the United States.
"We want to grow the U.S. market and we have started to penetrate the east — Vermont and those surrounding states … that's what we started a year ago and we are continuing those efforts," said Saputo spokeswoman Sandy Vassiadis. Saputo owns Vachon and controls the Canadian rights to the Hostess products.
I can only personally vouch for the Jos. Louis and May West snack cakes. Food Republic had a story this week on all the Vachon products. The reporter noted the visual similarities between the Vachon products and the (Hostess products): Chocolate Swiss Rolls (Ho Hos), Croquettes (Twinkies), and Jelly Log (Sno Ball). Flakies might be similar to Hostess Fruit Pies except Flakies are "light and, well, flaky." Piques, Pops, and Miamis may not have a Hostess equivalent.
The Canadian sweet tooth isn't similar to the American sweet tooth, so even if the cakes look similar, they may not match up to the expectation of those who are used to Twinkies.
The other difference between the two countries is that the Jos. Louis snack cakes I have seen in the States are made with sugar while the Canadian versions were using glucose-fructose (high-fructose corn syrup). You would think the reality would be in reverse. In fact, I didn't bring any Jos. Louis cakes back with me from Windsor since I had plenty of them, all made with sugar. Maybe Canadians will cross the border to get a better version of their home country snack cakes.
You might feel un-American by eating Canadian snack cakes rather than Hostess. Though May West is an homage to Mae West, but Jos. Louis isn't named after the famous boxer. Think of having the snack cakes as a diplomatic gesture or international adventure. You can eat the Canadian treats in the United States and cross the border for "American" Twinkies in Canada. The two countries share a lot; each country is the other's largest trading partner. Better add snack cakes to the list.