Tastykake facts for kids
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| Wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Food production |
| Founded | 1914 |
| Headquarters |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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United States
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Area served
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Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States |
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Key people
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John Padgett, Former President and CEO |
| Products | Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, Cupcakes, Pies, Koffee Kakes, Donuts, Cookie Bars, Juniors, Kreamies |
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Number of employees
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Approx. 1000 |
| Parent | Flowers Foods |
Tastykake is a popular brand of snack foods made by the Tasty Baking Company. This company has its main office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The company was started in 1914 by Philip J. Baur and Herbert T. Morris. At first, Tastykake only sold its treats in the Philadelphia area. Now, you can find their products in many states along the East Coast, including Florida. They are also slowly expanding across the United States.
Contents
What Tastykake Makes
Tastykake creates many different kinds of yummy pastries. These include cupcakes, donuts, honey buns, and pies. They are known for their special treats like Krimpets and Kandy Kakes.
How Tastykake Started
Philip J. Baur and Herbert T. Morris began the Tasty Baking Company in 1914. They invested $50,000 to start their bakery in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Before this, they had a bakery near Pittsburgh. When they sold that bakery, they agreed not to open another one close by. So, they chose Philadelphia.
In November 1913, they found a spot on Sedgley Avenue. Herbert Morris's wife came up with the name "Tastykake." A student from Boston designed the "Tastykake girl" and the company's logo. Soon after, the company used the slogan, "The Cake That Made Mother Stop Baking."
Tasty Baking Company quickly became successful. On their first day, they sold $28 worth of cakes, which were ten cents each. By the end of 1914, they had made $300,000 in sales!
Growing the Business
Sales for Tastykake quickly grew across Eastern Pennsylvania. Until 1941, the company mostly delivered its products using horse-drawn wagons. This made Tastykake a special treat mainly for people in the city.
However, World War II changed things. The company sent thousands of cakes and pies overseas to soldiers. This helped Tastykake become known in many more places. Over the years, Tastykake started using trucks, electric cars, trains, and ships for delivery. They sold products in Western Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York. The last horse used for deliveries retired in 1941.
The company's popularity grew even more in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They installed new machines that made baking much faster. The time it took to bake a cake went from twelve hours down to just forty-five minutes!
New Leadership
Philip Baur passed away in 1951. His family bought more shares from Herbert Morris's wife. This gave the Baur family control of the company. Paul R. Kaiser, who was the Vice-President, became the new president. Morris, who had been president since the beginning, became the chairman of the board.
By April 1954, Tastykake products were sold in parts of nine states and Washington D.C. By the end of the 1950s, the company's yearly sales had reached almost $22.9 million.
The 1959 Boycott
In 1959, a group of ministers in Philadelphia, known as the "400 ministers," decided to use the power of Black consumers to help Black workers get better job opportunities. They were led by Reverend Leon Sullivan. The group believed it was important for people to see African Americans in more than just low-paying jobs.
The ministers talked to Tastykake's management about hiring Black workers for "driver-salesman" jobs. These jobs were good because driver-salesmen delivered products and sold them to stores. They could earn extra money from sales commissions. Even though the talks were friendly, Tastykake did not change its hiring rules.
Because Tastykake did not respond to their requests, the ministers announced they would stop buying the company's snacks. They hoped their church members would join them.
On June 16, the ministers said that Tastykake would be the first company they would target with a "selective patronage campaign." Reverend Sullivan was the main spokesperson and negotiator. Tastykake was known for hiring many Black workers, but they were mostly in certain production jobs. There were also rumors that Black workers had to use separate restrooms and locker rooms.
Tastykake products were very popular in African American neighborhoods. This made them profitable for both Tastykake and Black-owned grocery stores. For the boycott to work, the ministers needed to convince 150 Black grocery stores to stop selling Tastykake products. This was for the bigger goal of fair job practices for Black workers.
With handmade signs in windows saying they would not sell the products, Reverend Sullivan and the ministers successfully united the Black communities. Finally, Tastykake agreed to talk with the ministers. On August 7, 1959, the ministers announced the boycott was over. As a result, Black drivers at Tastykake now had fixed routes, African American women were working in jobs previously held only by white women, and all the company's facilities were no longer separated by race.
Tastykake Products Over Time
In 1927, Tastykake introduced its Butterscotch Krimpet. Soon after, they started selling individually wrapped fruit and cream pies. These pies were wrapped in wax paper, a tradition that continued into the 1960s.
Tandy-takes first came out in 1931. These later became Kandy Kakes, which are the most popular cakes in the company's history. Nearly half a million Kandy Kakes are baked and packaged every day!
In the 1970s and 80s, Tastykake tried to make new products for a changing population. They added muffins, chocolate-covered pretzels, and other pastries.
Even though Tastykake is mostly a regional product, they get ingredients from all over the world. For example, they get sugarcane and cocoa from Africa, vanilla from Madagascar, and cinnamon from Indonesia.
Where Tastykake is Made
Tasty Baking used to have a large production factory in the Allegheny West neighborhood of Philadelphia. They also had a smaller factory in Oxford, Pennsylvania. This Oxford factory historically made honey buns, doughnuts, and cakes.
In May 2007, Tasty Baking announced they would move their main office and bakery to the Philadelphia Naval Business Center in South Philadelphia. The new bakery is on South 26th Street, and the main office is on Crescent Drive. The move was finished in May 2010.
Tastykake's Business History
The Tasty Baking Company became a public company in 1961. This meant people could buy shares of the company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2005, they moved their stock to the NASDAQ market.
In 2011, Flowers Foods, a company from Georgia, bought Tastykake for $34 million. This was good news for Pennsylvania taxpayers. Tastykake had borrowed about $80 million to build its new location in South Philadelphia, and about half of that money came from state programs.
