Flowers Foods

Flowers Foods, headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, is a producer and marketer of packaged bakery foods in the United States. The company operates 44 bakeries that produce breads, buns, rolls, snack cakes, and pastries. The company’s products are sold regionally through an extensive direct-store-delivery network that encompasses the southeastern, mid-Atlantic, and southwest US, plus select markets in California and Nevada, and nationwide through other delivery systems.

Flowers' key brands include Nature's Own, Whitewheat, Cobblestone Mill, Mrs. Freshley's, and Blue Bird. Flowers also markets products under the following company-owned and franchised brands: Aunt Hattie’s, Betsy Ross, Bunny, ButterKrust, Captain John Derst, Country Hearth, Dandee, Evangeline Maid, Flowers, Holsum, Ideal, Mi Casa, Roman Meal, Sunbeam, and Tastykake; the latter, long associated with Philadelphia, was acquired in April 2011. On January 11, 2013 Flowers Foods entered into an agreement to purchase the remaining assets and trademarks of the recently bankrupt Hostess Brands.

Flowers Foods has two operating segments. The Direct Store Delivery (DSD) Segment handles fresh breads, buns, rolls, and snack cakes that are sold regionally through a network of independent distributors. The company is continually expanding its market reach through acquisitions and by stretching its current territory. Flowers’ Warehouse Segment is responsible for the national distribution of frozen snack cakes and breads and rolls that are sold direct to customers' warehouses. Flowers' Mrs. Freshley's brand of snack cakes is available nationally to retail and vending customers through this segment, as is the European Bakers' brand of frozen specialty breads and rolls, which is available nationally to retail in-store bakeries and foodservice customers.