- Drake's
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Drake's is a baking company in Wayne, New Jersey, United States, owned by Hostess Brands,[1] which makes snack cakes such as Ring Dings, Yodels, Devil Dogs, Yankee Doodles, Sunny Doodles, Funny Bones, and coffee cake. Their mascot is a smiling duck wearing a chef's hat and neckerchief holding a spoon.
At their peak, Drake's bakery operations spread to thirteen states. In New York City and New England, Drake's popularity came to rival national brand Hostess. In New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, Drake's cakes compete head-to-head with that area's popular Tastykake brand.
Largely unknown outside of these areas until the 1990s, the Drake's product line received national exposure on the sitcom Seinfeld, most notably the episode "The Suicide" in 1992. Later in 1990s television talk show host Rosie O'Donnell professed a fondness for them, sharing the cakes with her audience members on The Rosie O'Donnell Show.
Contents
Origin and History
The company's founder, Newman E. Drake, baked his first pound cake in Brooklyn, New York, in 1888. He sold it by the slice.[2] Popularity increased, and soon a whole line of cakes was produced.
By the late 1960s, the resulting Drake Bakeries was owned by the huge Borden[disambiguation needed
] food company, along with Cracker Jack and Wise potato chips. In 1987, Borden sold the company to Ralston Purina, which owned ITT Continental Baking Company, makers of rival Hostess Cakes and Wonder Bread. This created a virtual monopoly in some areas, soon overturned. While the union lasted, Hostess was able to use the name Ding Dong for its Ring Ding clone in formerly restricted areas; when dissolved, instead of restoring the product's original Big Wheels moniker, Hostess compromised with a new "King Dons" trademark for the affected areas. During this period, Drake's celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1988, by producing the world's largest Ring Ding cake. Drake's was soon sold off to management.For a time in the 80s, Drake's produced a line of imitation Twinkies, including versions filled with strawberry, banana, or chocolate creme. They were originally called Shortcakes; later, when only the plain vanilla Twinkie-clone was being produced, renamed Zoinks!, before the line was discontinued for good.
Drake's was acquired by the Canadian company Culinar in 1991. Among the highlights of this period was the introduction of a pastry called "Pick 'M Ups", which became the only Drake's brand product to contain animal fats. A frosted chocolate cupcake that looked like Hostess' signature CupCake with a white icing swirl also appeared under the Drake's label, though Drake's never produced such an item on their own. In 1994 Culinar also initiated a drastic restructuring and optimization of the company-owned routes, which enabled Drakes to become profitable by 1997.
In 1998 Drake's was sold by Culinar, Inc., to Interstate Bakeries Corporation, which had previously acquired ITT/CBC and its Hostess and Wonder brands. The resultant market concentration was not overturned, other companies such as Little Debbie having sufficiently expanded market share since the previous monopoly arbitration to avoid it. In the New York City area Drake's and Hostess operations were combined, sharing the same trucks, delivery routes, and store racks. Some Hostess cakes distributed in the Northeast, such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs, are produced at the Drake's bakery and bear a kosher certification symbol in those areas.
In 2008, Drake's boxes began to carry a hybrid "Drakes by Hostess" logo with a message on the box explaining that the companies share ownership and a commitment to quality, possibly a first step toward an ultimate phase-out of the Drake's brand name.
Expansion
Throughout its history, Drake's Cakes have attempted to expand to other areas, either through third-party distribution deals, or shipping frozen cakes to distant areas, as was being done for Florida.
This remote presence reflected the preferences of many Drake's consumers from the north who had relocated to that retirement haven. Reinforcing this brand loyalty was the distinction that Drake's were at one time if not the only then one of the very few kosher snack cakes on the market, eschewing lard (forbidden under kosher laws outright) and tallow (prohibited in conjunction with dairy products commonly used in baking).
By 1989, Drake's could be found as far away as Southern California, through a deal with a local distributor for the Von's supermarket chain. But the distributor soon failed, and the arrangement ceased. Not long afterwords, distribution in the established Maryland and Washington, D.C., areas folded. In the Fall of 2005 IBC operations in Orlando, Florida discontinued carrying the products.
Popular Products
Drake's Coffee Cake
Drake's Devil Dog- Ring Dings
- Chocolate frosted hockey puck shaped chocolate cakes with vanilla creme filling. Another version is filled with custard and labeled Boston Creme Pies. Originally sold one per package (4" Diameter, .5" high) and also in a yellow cake / milk chocolate frosted variation.
- Yodels
- Chocolate frosted creme filled Swiss roll. Drake's also from time to time offers a non-frosted version, simply called Swiss Roll. These are usually larger and sold as one in a single wrapping or four in a family pack, in the past sold as two smaller cakes in a single wrapping. Similar to Hostess HoHos.
- Creme Cups
- Chocolate frosted chocolate cupcakes with creme filling. Discontinued c. 1980.
- Devil Dogs
- An unfrosted devil's food cake sandwich with vanilla creme with round edged cake wafers resembling a hot dog.
- Yankee Doodles
- Chocolate cupcakes baked and sold in paper baking cups. Unlike most other snack cupcakes on the market, there is no icing, and the hole through which the creme filling was inserted is clearly visible in the risen center. The cake is not as dense as Devil Dogs but similar in appearance and taste.
- Sunny Doodles
- Yellow cake version of Yankee Doodles
- Funny Bones
- Rectangular chocolate cakes filled with peanut butter flavored creme and covered with milk chocolate frosting.
- Fruit Pies
- Offered in apple, cherry and chocolate, these pies are unique among their niche in having two half-sized square shaped pies in a pack instead of a single rectangular pie, and in not containing lard. Originally called Fruit Doodles.
- Coffee Cake Junior
- A single serving-sized round crumb cake. Family packs contain smaller ones.
- Pick 'Em Ups
- A flaky pastry filled with flavored jelly (raspberry or strawberry) and cream, topped with sugar. Drake's has since discontinued this product.
References
External links
Categories:- Hostess Brands brands
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