Consumers don’t care about the behind-the-scenes workings of their favorite brands. They go to the store and assume that everything they buy will normally be there.
The Covid pandemic and supply chain issues changed those expectations a bit. Sometimes, even for really big brands, the selection would be sparse and some favorite products or flavors may be missing.
Related: Popular mall retailer faces possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy
That was true in the case of Starbucks. (SEX) – Get a free report Coffee ready to drink during the darkest days of the pandemic. The brand still had some products in refrigerators at convenience stores like Wawa and 7-Eleven, but many flavors and even entire product lines were out.
However, while that was happening, most consumers knew why. They weren’t worried (at least most of them weren’t) that Starbucks had stopped producing their favorite flavor or that the store they were in had stopped carrying it. Still, when a product disappears from store shelves, people often assume the worst.
And, in 2012, the worst happened when Hostess filed for bankruptcy and its products became collectors’ items that quickly disappeared from stores. You may not have had a Twinkie or a Ding Ding in years, but their (perhaps permanent) absence touched a nostalgic nerve in many people’s bodies.
The hostess, as you well know, had a happy ending. She bought into the brand and its products eventually returned to store shelves. That’s the ending fans of the iconic Sanders Bumpy Cake hope will happen for their beloved treat.
Image source: Benedikt Geyer from Pixabay
Bumpy Cake Baker closes its doors
There’s good news for fans of Bumpy Cake, a regional favorite with more than 100 years of history. Sanders Bumpy Cake, owner of the popular brand, has not gone bankrupt.
Instead, Awrey’s, the bakery he hired to make the popular pie, closed its doors unexpectedly. The bakery has not officially filed for bankruptcy, but its owners say it has closed permanently.
That creates a situation where Second Nature Brands, the parent company of Sanders Bumpy Cake, needs to find a new baking partner. It also means that once the current inventory of the popular treat runs out (something that will likely happen quickly once the news breaks), Bumpy Cake could be off shelves for an extended period of time.
“Originally created in the early 1900s by the Sanders Chocolates company in Detroit (where the ice cream float was also invented), this cake sports fudge frosting poured over vanilla buttercream “bumps,” creating the name with the that Midwesterners have known and loved for many years: Bumpy Cake”, King Arthur baking shared.
Awrey previously filed for bankruptcy in 2013, but survived. Earlier this year, there was a temporary halt in Bumpy Cake production due to supply chain issues.
The latest news was unexpected and will cause supply issues, according to comments from Second Nature Brands CEO Victor Mehren, reported by RetailWire.
“This will be disappointing news for all of our loyal Michigan area customers who grew up with Bumpy Cake in their lives. “We are very disappointed, in fact, heartbroken to also have a supply disruption at this time,” he shared.
However, the company has begun the process of finding a new manufacturing partner, but has not shared how long it will take to return Bumpy Cake to stores.
Second Nature Brands focuses on selling healthy snacks, although it’s unclear how Bump Cake fits into that vein.
“At Second Nature Brands, we believe in growing consumer trends toward healthier lifestyles and food choices,” the company shared on its website.
The company sells several trail mix products under different brand names and has a relationship with Kroger, which sells some of its products.
