The resurrection of the Twinkie.

"It was the risk. This was a rare circumstance in history when you see a company go completely off the shelves and have no employees, have empty factories and no working capital. We saw the opposite � this was an opportunity to take a great brand and for the first time be able to reinvent it."

The magic bullet turned out to be chemistry. Metropoulos spent millions on R&D, working with food lab Corbion to tweak the formula of starches, oils and gums in Twinkies, finally arriving at an acidity level that would prevent staleness and discoloration. The singular goal: Make the Twinkie warehouse-friendly. And while none of this will make Alice Waters� heart flutter, the team succeeded in making the indestructible snack even more so � [its] shelf life was more than doubled, to 65 days. Hostess switched to a warehouse system. Delivery costs dropped to 16% from 36% of revenue, and Hostess� retail reach expanded greatly. �We now ship to all Wal-Marts, dollar stores, 100,000 convenience stores, plus vending machines and food services,� says Jhawar. �There is no reason why Hostess can�t be sold in any place that sells candy bars.�