Help Save Tastykake!
How can we let Philly's landmark snack die on the assembly line?
Help Save Tastykake!
Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
NOOOOOOOOOO!
Our very own snack-food powerhouse, Tastykake, announced today that it might merge with another company or sell itself, thanks to miserable finances.
It's a shock to the system, isn't it? Like the shock you'd get from washing down a pack of Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes with a bottle of Jolt?
The company 's move to the Navy Yard was supposed to bolster Tasty's bottom line by improving production efficiency. But CEO Charlie Pizzi says that commodity costs - you know, flour and eggs and such - are higher. Plus the company's biggest buyer is in Chapter 11 and not purchasing as many krimpets, cakes and pies as it used to.
Please.
Folks I know say sales are off because Tastykakes just aren't as good as they used to be. I haven't recently purchased anything other than Krimpets (do NOT get between me and that butterscotch icing...), so I'm dying to hear your thoughts about Philly's home-grown junk-food company.
What do you think of Tastykakes these days? The ingredients, the taste, the packaging, the overall quality - anything at all having to do with the quintessential Philly experience of inhaling a locally baked combination of sugar and fatty goodness?
From a customer's point of view, what do you think Tastykake can do to save itself?
How can we Save Our Snacks?
Tastykakes totally taste different. The cream filled cupcakes taste more like those awful Hostess cakes. I thought I was the only one to notice... but maybe I'm not.— toddzarnitz- Todd. Do you really think Hostess tastes as good as Tastykake? The fake icing on Hostess doesn't even melt in my mouth. On the other hand, Tastykake uses real butter and eggs and their icing melts in my mouth. I especially love the butterscotch krimpets, doublicious. — lilboo
- The pies are pathetic and I totally agree about the cream filled cupcakes. Their cash cow is, and always will be, the butterscotch krimpet. That alone could be enough for someone (Bimbo) to acquire the company.— UncleEddie
- Uncle Eddie, as a Tastykake fan, I can't think of another snack pie any superior to Tastykake pies. Have you had a lemon pie lately? There is nothing else like it. — lilboo
- Gee, Ronnie, I'm sure you'll get all sorts of fair opinions by asking philly.com posters what they think about Tastykake quality. Might as well ask us whether we think Philadelphia has a bright future, too.— everydayguy
- No where near as good as they used to be. The pies fall apart because they don't have as much filling as they used to. Cakes taste dry and the cream filling isn't good anymore. Might as well by Little Debbie's and I really HATE Little Debbie's!— TerryW
- Terry. I had the same problem with my Tastykake pies around last year at this time. But I ate them anyway because I just can't live without them. Lately, I've noticed they are holding together much better. Sa-weet! Problem solved.
Really though, I'll take them anyway because they are so fresh and good, they simply render the competition unacceptable.— esfoodie 
Fire Pizzi right now, he drove that company into the ground!— ZOSO- I loved my Tastykakes and always bought them. Ever since they moved to the Navy Yard, the pies aren't DONE!!!!!! I wrote them and called them about it and they assured the ovens are the same temp as Hunting Park! How can they be the same when the pastry dough isn't as crisp and as brown as it was before? Even the different cakes have lost their flavor; please someone save Tastykake! CEO, Charlie Pizi should enlist people from Philadelphia and from different generations to give commentary to their cakes and pies. There was a time when I had to have my Tastykake with lunch (Yo Nutter, I'm not obese); now I don't even care.— Centrist
Comment removed.- Republicrat. The tin is awesome. It makes the pie easier to handle. Doesn't it remind you of your Mom's pie sitting on the stove? I like the tin and when I'm done eating the pie, I can use that tin to see any remaining crumbs on my face. Yummy Tastykakes! — tjonez
- Chocolate Juniors - the best snack in the world - have also changed since teh move to the navy yard. They just are missing that something special. Oh well if they go under my cholesteral levels will benefit!
- What happened to Tastykake? Simple greed feeding greed. Our costs have risen so we need to produce an inferior product to compete. I used to devour TK apple pies, but have not eaten one in over 7 years. They are totally awful and blow up like balloons with each passing day on the shelf. TK needs to get back to what made them great - a delicious product. They also need to trim their product offerings to
perhaps a half dozen items, shed everythin else and restore the quality. Why do we need a "Rita's Mango Pie"?
Here's what they should keep and improve:
1. Butterscotch Krimpets
2. Chocolate Cupkakes
3. Peanutbutter Tandykakes
4. Apple/French Apple pie
5. Cherry pie
6 Blueberry pie
— Anthony1957 
I have not bought any Tastykake items recently, but my Mom did when she was up from Florida for Christmas. After being shocked to see a single pie for $1.49 at Wawa, she commented that they seemed different than before the new factory. I seem to recall reading an article on Philly.com from the time of the move, and a Tastykake official commenting that their new "greener" factory required tweaks to the recipes in order to compensate for differences in water and baking processes.
When my phone rings here at the Daily News, nine times out of ten the caller begins the conversation with, “Yeah, so what happened was…”.
Because this is Philly, the caller doesn’t say, “My name is Bob” – or Mary – “and I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?” Philadelphians are too direct for that. They just say, “Yeah, so what happened was…”, and then tumble into a tale they think oughta be shared with a wider audience. I love getting these calls (even the ones where it becomes clear, after 30 seconds, where the caller sowed the seeds of his own misery), because they give me chance to connect with fellow citizens in a way that no other job allows. Well, okay, no other job for which I’m remotely qualified.
That’s why my blog is titled “So What Happened Was…”. To me, it’s the quintessentially Philly way of saying, “Once upon a time.” When I hear it, I know a good story is coming. And I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Ronnie Polaneczky has been an award-winning columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News since 1999, offering a front-steps perspective on every aspect of city life, from the sublime to the stupid. In her past life, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlantic City Magazine, associate editor at Philadelphia Magazine and a fulltime freelancer published in Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, MarieClaire and others. She lives with her husband, daughter and various pets in the city's Fairmount section, where she dreams of one day singing The National Anthem at an Eagles game. In addition to her column and blog, you can enjoy Ronnie's musings in podcast form here.
Read more from Ronnie Polaneczky at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green
Reach Ronnie at polaner@phillynews.com.
