Remembering the San Francisco Hostess factory’s giant chocolate spills of yesteryear

Clean up on aisle 15. Photo: The Chronicle 1994

After 77 years, San Francisco's Wonder Bread and Hostess Bakery was shut down in 2005, putting 180 people out of work. Photo: The Chronicle 2005

Given the events of the past week surrounding the murky future of Hostess Brands — and its nostalgic treats like Wonder Bread, Twinkies, Ding Dongs, HoHos, SnoBalls and so forth — it’s worth remembering that San Francisco had its own Hostess factory, a.k.a. Continental Baking Company.

Until closing in 2005, the factory was in the Mission, at Bryant and 15th. Probably the most memorable aspect of the factory? The time it spilled massive amounts of chocolate all over the city.

It happened in 1994, when for some reason workers were transferring 200 gallons of liquid chocolate “from one tanker to another”, according to reports at the time. [Sidenote: Who knew there were magical tankers of chocolate roaming the city?] The accident was blamed on the “cargo’s shifting weight”; basically as you can above, the whole tanker got upended. The chocolate never made it to Ding Dongs.

As if that sidewalk sundae wasn’t epic enough, there was another one in 2001. This spill led wacky Missionites to fashion hats out of chocolate:

San Francisco resident Vicki Saulls sculpts a derby hat out of chocolate after a tanker truck lost its load in front of the Hostess factory on Bryant Street. Photo: The Chronicle/Justin Sullivan 2001

Photo: The Chronicle/Justin Sullivan 2001

Paolo Lucchesi