# What did they do to Hostess Fruit Pies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181 "2009-12-06T08:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/21 "2009-12-07T16:09:07Z")
The Save-Mart grocery stores near where I used to live (Visalia, Central CA) used to sell something called a Home Run Pie. They were, IIRC, always 4 for a dollar, a bit smaller than Hostess, and filled completely with filling. Great for the price. Joe ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/22 "2009-12-07T16:39:21Z")
If you can find them, find Little Debbie fruit pies. I love them, and i don’t like most Little Debbie products. They are better than the Hostess pies, cheaper, and have the glazed finish! ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/23 "2009-12-07T16:58:11Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > … the little fruit pie dressed as a magician on the wrapper is gone… When they fired Fruitpie the Magician they forgot to get the secret recipes from him. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/24 "2009-12-07T17:42:05Z")
_I don’t want no taters And no gravy on the top And I don’t want no salad Or none of that other slop But if there’s the one thing I want in my life And you know it It’s a RC Cola and a Moon Pie It’s all right_ - NRBQ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/25 "2009-12-07T18:19:22Z")
What happened to them? Sounds like Hostess cost-reduced the heck out of them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/26 "2009-12-07T19:58:22Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > …But yeah, they’re not as good: smaller, less glaze, and the crust is not as crusty, more soggy. Still, every once in a while I can’t pass them up. I must agree. I still see them at the drug store now and then, and sometimes buy one, but it’s not the same - you just can’t go home again. Man, when I was a kid, those were the gold standard of school lunchtime trading. If you had a Hostess Fruit Pie you could get _anything_ for it… but probably wouldn’t, because you’d just want to eat it yourself! ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/27 "2009-12-07T22:00:51Z")
caramel apple empandas from taco hell ftw ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/28 "2009-12-07T22:17:38Z")
gets beat out by another pie that existed in the New England area in the '80s until it disappeared-the fabulous Table Talk pie. A 6 inch minature apple, pineapple, blueberry or lemon that had Hostess beat hands down. ---
**Author:** ![bololou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@bololou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bololou)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/29 "2020-08-13T15:37:54Z")
I just ate a Hostess Cherry Pie 12 minutes ago. I have eaten these pies since I was in middle school in 1970 and they were a very acceptable substitute for the real thing my mother and grandmother would make. I used to have coffee with one on a cool rainy day in summer. **But This Morning?!?!?!?!** What the hell did I just eat? It had absolutely no taste…the crust appeared to be stale, the filling was gummy and had absolutely no taste of cherry flavor whatsoever. For a moment, and this is NOT an exaggeration, I panicked that I had lost my sense of taste and …well, you know what that means in this particular time frame…I went and tried a few other different foods and realized that it indeed was that thing Hostess calls a pie that had lost its taste. Never have I eaten anything so absolutely without any taste of any kind. I am writing to the company to explain the situation, I don’t want any compensation, I don’t want any coupons; ALL I want is for them to provide the product that they were know for making. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/30 "2020-08-13T16:21:37Z")
It isn’t just the Fruit Pies. Recently my wife had a hankering for Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, so we added them to our grocery delivery order. The store was out, so they substituted Hostess Ho-Hos. Oh well, same thing, right? Not so much. They were tiny. The chocolate was waxy and tasteless. The cake part was dry. And hardly any creme filling. For what it’s worth, Interstate Bakeries - manufacturers of Hostess products since 1930 - shut down in 2012. An investment group bought their assets and revived the Hostess brand a year later. I don’t know how much the snacks had changed before that, but the current Hostess is definitely not the Hostess we remember from our childhoods. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/31 "2020-08-13T16:40:02Z")
Another victim of the Hostess bankruptcy. The folks at Bimbo bakeries either cheapened the recipe, or don’t know how to read it–they have had to retrench and change some of the products. Susy-Q’s come to mind. the first attempt at them was two layers of sawdust surrounding a layer of lard. And that is being generous. ---
**Author:** ![bololou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/da6949/32.png) [@bololou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bololou)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/32 "2020-08-13T17:25:24Z")
You are both correct. I rant about the pies but it’s ALL of the products…smaller sizes, the same price (or more) as the old products, horrendous quality of the product. The only power we have over all this is to take our business elsewhere to another company, or just stop buying these goods altogether. At any rate, they aren’t getting any more of my money. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/33 "2020-08-13T17:59:45Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > (the sugar content is just too much otherwise) As is the saturated fat. I haven’t had one since the 80s, when I made the mistake of reading the label… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/34 "2020-08-13T19:59:16Z")
> [@bololou](#): > > You are both correct. I rant about the pies but it’s ALL of the products…smaller sizes, the same price (or more) as the old products, horrendous quality of the product. The only power we have over all this is to take our business elsewhere to another company, or just stop buying these goods altogether. At any rate, they aren’t getting any more of my money. I’m just glad that the slabs of fruitcake I used to buy during the 70s didn’t survive long enough to undergo this debasement. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/35 "2020-08-13T20:13:32Z")
They’re not the same as they used to be, that’s for sure. I did discover recently that TastyKake fruit pies are good approximation to the old Hostess Fruit Pies. Our central Indiana Kroger stores and Speedway gas stations sell them. If you find them, try one out! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/36 "2020-08-13T21:04:27Z")
I too love the peach and blackberry pies, but the best kind I ever had was French Apple (with raisins) at a school picnic, way back in 1967. Never seen one since. Actually, I haven’t had any kind of Hostess-style fruit pie in decades. I can’t seem to find them in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/37 "2020-08-13T21:54:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I too love the peach and blackberry pies, but the best kind I ever had was French Apple (with raisins) at a school picnic, way back in 1967. Never seen one since. Hostess strawberry fruit pie is the reason for fruit pie. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/38 "2020-08-13T22:03:27Z")
To Hell with Hostess, you want [Tastykake pies](https://www.tastykake.com/pies). The baked ones in the little boxes are _zehr gut_; the glazed ones are a tad sweet. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/39 "2020-08-14T04:35:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Actually, I haven’t had any kind of Hostess-style fruit pie in decades. I can’t seem to find them in Canada. Would you settle for a Passion Flakie? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181/40 "2020-08-14T05:01:43Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Another victim of the Hostess bankruptcy. The folks at Bimbo bakeries either cheapened the recipe, or don’t know how to read it–they have had to retrench and change some of the products. Susy-Q’s come to mind. the first attempt at them was two layers of sawdust surrounding a layer of lard. And that is being generous. It’s actually not Bimbo, as I understand it – as @Wheelz noted in the post above yours, the Hostess brands (along with Dolly Madison) were bought by an investment group. Bimbo bought a number of Interstate Bakeries’ bread brands, but not Hostess. The [Wikipedia article on Hostess Brands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostess_Brands) states that the new owners of Hostess were using at least four of the old Hostess plants, but I wonder if, when they re-started the plants (after the products had been off the market for about a year), if they were missing either (a) the original equipment, or (b) the original production staff, who knew not just the recipes, but the details on _how_ to make them. (I’d also suspect that, in the past few years, they have cost-reduced the hell out of the recipes, which often has a negative effect on the taste.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-they-do-to-hostess-fruit-pies/520181.md?page=3)