Tastykake

Tastykake is a line of snack foods manufactured by the Tasty Baking Company, headquartered at the Philadelphia Navy Yard (formerly the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] Established in 1914 by Philip J. Baur and Herbert T. Morris and originally selling its product only in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the company now distributes its products in several states on the East Coast, and also Florida, and has been gradually expanding across the United States.

In April 2010, Tasty Baking entered into a purchase-and-sale agreement with John Padgett Associates and its guarantor, Metro Development Company, for the sale of its Philadelphia bakery property located at Hunting Park Avenue, and its former corporate offices and distribution center located at Fox Street, for $6 million.[2]

Products

Tastykake produces a variety of pastries[3] including cupcakes, donuts, honey buns, and pies.

History

1959 boycott

In 1959, a group from Philadelphia who referred to themselves as the 400 ministers formulated a new strategy for using black consumer power, rather than the city's liberal civil rights networks, to press private employers to improve job opportunities for black workers.[6] Led by Reverend Leon Sullivan, the group believed it was important that the public be conditioned to seeing African Americans doing more than menial jobs in the community.[6]

The local branch had approached the management of Tastykake, about employing black workers in the lucrative position of "driver-salesman". Driver-salesmen both drove the company's delivery trucks and sold the company's goods to grocery stores and other retail outlets and thus were able to earn lucrative commissions on top of their salaries. Although the activists' talks with Tastykake were cordial, most refused to change their employment policies. Since Tastykake had failed to respond to their entreaties, the ministers declared that they intended to stop buying the company's snack foods and they hoped their congregants would join them.[6]

On June 16, the ministers announced that Tastykake was to be the target of the first selective patronage campaign and that Sullivan would serve as spokesperson and chief negotiator for the campaign. Tastykake was known for hiring a large number of black workers, even though it restricted them to certain production departments and was rumored to require them to use segregated restroom and locker facilities. The company's products were very popular among African American neighborhoods and therefore profitable for both Tastykake and the black owned groceries stores. The key to the boycott's success would be to convince 150 black grocery chains to stop selling the lucrative product for the bigger cause of fair employment practices for black workers. With hand made signs in windows declaring the refusal to sell the products, Sullivan and the ministers were successful in unifying the black communities. Tastykake finally agreed to negotiate with the ministers. On August 7, 1959, the ministers announced the end to the boycott. The company's black drivers now had fixed routes, African American women were working in positions previously reserved for white women, and all of the plants' facilities had been desegregated.[6]

type	Wholly owned subsidiary
traded as	(1961–2005) (2005–2011)
foundation	1914
location city	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
location country	United States
key people	John Padgett, Former President and CEO
area served	Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States
num employees	Approx. 1000
industry	Food production
parent	Flowers Foods
products	Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, Cupcakes, Pies, Koffee Kakes, Donuts, Cookie Bars, Juniors, Kreamies
homepage	www.tastykake.com

Products

History

1959 boycott

Product history

Production facilities

Financials

External links

References