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Shares in US bakery group Flowers Foods sank yesterday after it cut its earnings forecast for 2014 - but the company immediately sought to soothe investor concerns by looking to its longer-term prospects.

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Flowers Foods, the second-largest bakery group in the US, has been an active consolidator in the industry and the group remains on the hunt. Flowers plans to drive continued growth while also expanding its geographic footprint, with a significant proportion of revenue gains to come from M&A. Katy Askew reports.

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Flowers Foods will look at new markets for its enlarged portfolio of bread brands to boost volumes before it considers reopening the former Hostess Brands bakeries it acquired earlier this year.

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US baker Flowers Foods has said it is "confident" its snack cake business will continue to thrive even as the new-look Hostess Brands returns to the market, with products including Twinkies.

US snack cake maker Hostess Brands has booked rising half-year sales and earnings, pointing to new products and moves to capitalise on "white space opportunities".

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US cake maker Hostess Brands has reported higher first-quarter sales and profits, helped by recent M&A and product launches.

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Hostess Brands is looking at making more acquisitions of companies supplying in-store bakeries, a market the Twinkies maker is growing faster than the sweet baked goods sector where the US snacks group does most of its business.

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Twinkies owner Hostess Brands has said it expects to continue to grow faster than the rest of the US sweet baked goods market in 2017 after a year of rising sales and underlying profits.

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Nestle and Hostess Brands are to launch a range of ice cream products under the US bakery group's brands.

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Hostess Brands, the maker of treats including Twinkies and HoHos, reported higher sales and earnings for the first nine months of the year thanks to expanded distribution and product launches. 

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Deep Fried Twinkies are being launched this week at Walmart stores in the US as Hostess Brands makes its first move into frozen food.

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Hostess Brands LLC has said expanded product lines, new acquistions and product innovation will form part of its blueprint for strategic growth as the US baked goods group forges ahead under new ownership following a deal announced yesterday (5 July).

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Hostess Brands LLC, the maker of the iconic Twinkies and Ho Hos, said today (5 July) it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell a majority stake in the company to a publicly-traded affiliate of investment firm the Gores Group for around US$725m.

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Hostess Brands has bought US-based in-store bakery company Superior Cake Products, the company's first acquisition since returning to the market under new ownership three years ago.

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Edita Food Industries, the Egypt-based bakery group, is to set up a new manufacturing facility as it prepares to produce Hostess Brands LLC lines for more markets in the Middle East.

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This week, PepsiCo reported on its second quarter numbers and its conference call detailed its plans to prepare for a tough second half to the year. Elsewhere Hostess Brands' owners insisted they were not looking for an IPO or a sale at present. animal abuse and McCain announced an A$10m investment at a Tasmania plant. Here is the week in quotes.

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The owners of Hostess Brands LLC, Metropoulos & Co and Apollo Global Management, have insisted they are not considering selling or listing the business "at this time".

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Egypt-based bakery group Edita Food Industries has expanded its ownership of Hostess Brands LLC's HoHo's, Twinkies and Tiger Tail brands to 12 additional Middle Eastern and North African markets.

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US bakery giant Flowers Foods will open a former Hostess Brands plant it acquired in 2013 this summer.

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The private-equity owners of Hostess Brands are reportedly mulling the sale of the US snack maker, just a year after buying the Twinkies owner.

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US baked goods firm Flowers Foods has promoted Bradley Alexander as chief operating officer.

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US baker Hostess Brands LLC is reintroducing Chocodile Twinkies, with a national roll-out planned to start this week.

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US bakery group Flowers Foods has reported lower first-quarter profits as costs linked to its acquisition of assets from the former Hostess Brands weighed on its bottom line.

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Flowers Foods has inked a deal that provides Indiana-based baker Aunt Millie's Bakeries the license to produce and market Wonder and Home Pride breads in parts of the Midwest.

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The recently-revived US baker Hostess Brands is to increase capacity at a plant in Kansas.

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US baker Flowers Foods is to re-open a plant formerly owned by rival Hostess Brands, which was wound down earlier this year.

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Fonterra again dominated the headlines as it grappled with the fall-out of the botulism scare. Import bans mounted and a senior executive resigned. Elsewhere, Heinz announced its first cuts since the takeover of the business, Campbell Soup Co. announced talks to sell a clutch of European assets and US group Pinnacle Foods snapped up Unilever's Wish-Bone dressings business.

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US baker Flowers Foods saw its earnings and sales climb in the first half, boosted by gains from recent acquisitions.

US firm McKee Foods, the new owner of Drake's cakes, has said it is celebrating 125 years of the iconic brand by returning the four most popular varieties to the shelves.