Face it, the Twinkies craze was a little ridiculous. With single boxes selling on ebay for over $200,000 and Facebook fan pages spreading rampantly through the internet soil like viral daisies, the public outcry over Hostess Brands’ demise alone would have been enough to convince any hapless CEO to try to save the company. So that’s what some hapless CEOs from Metropoulos & Co (who owns Pabst Brewing Co.) and Apollo Global Management (whose investments include Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s) did. Following last year’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a bit of corporate reshuffling, it appears that Twinkies will finally make their triumphant return to grocery shelves starting next month on July 15 – which will give us plenty of time left this summer to totally ignore them, except when they’re deep-fried at the county fair.

The Associated Press (via Yahoo! News) outlines the breakdown of the Hostess empire: Wonder and Hostess’ other bread brands were sold to Flower Foods. Devil Dogs and Yodels were sold to McKee, which makes Little Debbie Snack Cakes. And investment firm Metropoulos & Co. snatched up Twinkies and a few other Hostess Cakes.

Daren Metropoulos, a principal of Metropoulos & Co., told the Associated Press that the new, barer-boned Hostess Brands LLC has a cheaper costly operating structure than before and that its workers are no longer unionized. He also mentioned the possibility for cross-promotion with Metropoulos’ and Apollo’s other properties.

So while the long-term future of everyone’s favorite cream-stuffed yellow sponge cake is still yet to be seen, it appears at the very least that Hostess is finally back on the right track. As for any residual doubters, I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of a possible Ice Cream-Stuffed Twinkie from Carl’s Jr.

H/T Grub Street, AP + PicThx Boston Herald