Tastykakes

WHAT'S AN AVERAGE YEAR'S WORTH OF BOOZING? a) 2 1/4 gallons of wines and spirits b) 5 1/2 gallons c) 12 gallons WHAT'S AVERAGE FOR RECYCLING? a) 3 pounds every two weeks b) 7 1/2 pounds c) 17 pounds HOW MANY LOAVES OF BREAD DOES THE AVERAGE FAMILY EAT IN A WEEK? a) 1 b) 2 3) 3 HOW MANY LIBRARY BOOKS DOES THE AVERAGE PHILADELPHIAN CHECK OUT IN A YEAR? a) 5 b) 8 c) 12 Average? That's Denver or Atlanta.

Ottawa Mayor Bob Chiarelli can already taste the butterscotch Krimpets. Not so fast, said Mayor Street, who expects to sample BeaverTails for the first time. BeaverTails are hot pastries with cinnamon, chocolate and apple toppings. Chiarelli and Street have a friendly wager on the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Flyers and the Senators: Tastykakes for Chiarelli if the Flyers lose, BeaverTails for Street if they win. Last year, when Ottawa eliminated the Flyers in the first round, Street paid up. "I want to put my order in for more chocolate and butterscotch Tastykakes this year," Chiarelli said.

Tasty Baking Co. delivered bad news to employees Friday, announcing the elimination of 32 positions at its former headquarters at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The job cuts were expected after the company's acquisition by Flowers Foods Inc. in May for about $165 million, most of which went to repay debt taken on to pay for the move to a new, $78 million bakery last year. "As is often the case when two publicly traded companies merge, we found overlap and redundancy in office functions," said Paul Ridder, president of the Philadelphia operation and former Tasty senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Tasty Baking has until 2 p.m. Friday to either make a loan payment that was due Jan. 1 or reach a deal with its banks, giving the beleaguered maker of Tastykakes more financial breathing room. The company had no comment Thursday. Neither did the lead bank, Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. One possibility Friday, industry observers said, is that the banks will grant a 30-day extension of the forbearance agreement disclosed last week, when Tasty said it was in a liquidity squeeze because of production problems at its new $78 million bakery at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Admit it. You've been curious. You've seen the new low-fat Tastykakes - the ones with the bold green stripe on the box - and wondered if they measure up to the old favorites that Mom used to pack with your school lunch. A low-fat Tastykake is something of an oxymoron, like a jumbo shrimp. But the way consumers have been gobbling up Snackwells and other low-fat cookie lines, the Hunting Park-based Tasty Baking Co. saw an opportunity. In October, it launched a new line of Tastykakes with fewer fat grams and reduced cholesterol: Krimpets with lemon, apple or raspberry fillings; Koffee Kakes with the same choice of fillings; and Creme Filled Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate icing.

For decades, homesick ex-Philadelphians have asked relatives to mail them "care packages" of Tastykakes. Now the Tasty Baking Co. has decided to target that market directly by selling "Tastykare Packages" - all wrapped and ready to go. This may be good news for legions of displaced local Tastykake lovers, but Frank Catona, owner of USAFood Inc., in Lester, Delaware County, says it's definitely bad news for him. Tasty Baking's new venture will...

Philip J. Bauer had an idea: Why should housewives all over Philadelphia have to bake all their own cakes? Store-bought cut cakes often were too expensive, and you had to wait for the grocer to cut your purchase, weigh and wrap it, then hope it would be fresh. And so began a local culinary icon: the Tastykake. The first was the Chocolate Cup Cake, and it remains the best-seller. But there are other faves as well, including Butterscotch Krimpets, Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes and apple and lemon pies.

There is no Matisse, no Gauguin or Pissarro, not even a Morisot hanging in the art collection of the Tasty Baking Co. in North Philadelphia. But should the venerable purveyor of Tastykakes wish to be as kind to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as Sara Lee Corp. has been to the Art Institute of Chicago and 19 other U.S. museums, some fine works could one day hang in public view. Gnomes, for instance. Those cute little figures that graced Tastykakes posters and packaging in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Tasty Baking Co. launched 23 direct-delivery routes in Western Pennsylvania and Ohio last week as part of its strategy under chief executive officer Charles Pizzi to boost sales. The costs associated with this expansion and other projects are expected to push the company in the red for the third quarter, the Philadelphia baker of snack cakes and pies said yesterday. In recent years, Tasty Baking had expanded distribution by piggybacking on other companies' trucks. For example, Snyder's of Hanover pretzel bakery had been delivering Tastykakes in the area between Pittsburgh and Cleveland since the late 1990s.

THE $165 MILLION deal announced yesterday between Tasty Baking Co., the maker of Philadelphia's beloved Tastykakes, and Georgia-based Flowers Foods may prove to be a sweet deal for Krimpet-lovers, shareholders and taxpayers alike. After hemorrhaging money over the last fiscal year, Tasty agreed to be purchased by Flowers for $4 a share in cash - a huge premium over Friday's closing price of $1.61 but a bargain compared with the company's $7.47 closing price at this time last year.