Twinkies are back, but most of the workers who helped produce and distribute the iconic snack product are not part of its revival.

Only about 20 to 25 percent of the 18,500 jobs at Hostess Brands will survive its sale and re-emergence, according to Natalie Everett, a break and snack industry analyst at IBISWorld.

Everett told CNNMoney that Hostess is investing in equipment and machinery to replace laborers.

Editor's Note: 'It’s Curtains for the US' — Hear Unapologetic Warning from Prophetic Economist.

The old company made Twinkies, Wonder Bread and a variety of other food products before going bankrupt last year. About 6,600 employees were members of a baker's union at the time, and 7,500 were drivers who belonged to the Teamsters union.

Hostess was struggling then, and the bakers union rejected a new contract that reduced wages and benefits, while the Teamsters accepted it. The company blamed the bakers for the shutdown.

A spokeswoman for the new owners, a joint venture of Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., said the company intends to use 1,800 workers to produce Hostess products including Twinkies, compared with 2,500 workers before the bankruptcy.

"The general health trend is people avoiding bread products, avoiding carbs, avoiding glutens now," said Everett, the industry analyst. "The sweet treats that Hostess sold, they also have a bad rep. That said, they wouldn't be coming back if people didn't love them."

The new company will hire outside trucking companies to deliver trailers full of the products to retail distribution centers.

Not all of the former Hostess Brands products are staying with the new company. Flowers Foods agreed to buy Wonder Bread and most of Hostess' other bread brands, CNNMoney reported.

Twinkies officially returned to store shelves on Monday, but with a slightly different recipe that extends their shelf life by about three weeks, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Ding Dongs, CupCakes and the rest of the Hostess snack family were part of the re-emergence in stores. Wal-Mart stocked certain stores with Twinkies ahead of time on Friday.

Hostess President Rich Seban told the Tribune the company has a new business strategy for Twinkies: "to be sold wherever candy bars are sold."

Some of the potential new venues for distribution are sports stadiums, hotels, movie theaters and cruise ships, the Tribune reported.

Editor's Note: 'It’s Curtains for the US' — Hear Unapologetic Warning from Prophetic Economist.