The Sanitarium Health Food Company is a food company in Australia and New Zealand that produces a large range of breakfast cereals as well as a range of vegetarian products. Founded in 1898, its flagship product Weet-Bix is a top seller in the Australian and New Zealand breakfast cereal market. Sanitarium is wholly owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Sanitarium has factories in many locations across Australia and New Zealand, some of these include, Berkeley Vale, Cooranbong, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Christchurch and Auckland. A factory was operating in Palmerston North NZ, but was closed down in the late 1990's.

History

Officially formed in 1898, the process of forming a health food company had been in discussions amongst Seventh-day Adventists in Australia for a number of years. To help the company get started, a baker by the name of Edward Halsey was called out from the United States, arriving in Sydney on November 8, 1897.

Products

Breakfast cereals

• Weet-Bix, and its family of products:
• Weet-Bix Crunch Honey
• Weet-Bix Crunch Cocoa
• Weet-Bix Multi-Grain (formerly Good Start)
• Hi-bran
• Weet Bix Oat Bran
• Bran Bix
• Weet-Bix Fruity (formerly Fruity-Bix)
• Fruity-bix Bars
• Weet-Bix Lite (formerly Lite-bix)
• Granola
• Granola Clusters
• Puffed wheat
• Honey Weets
• Skippy Corn flakes
• Skippy Ricies
• Light'n'tasty
• Muesli range (Toasted, Natural, Clusters)
• Weeties (Relaunched 2008 , previously kornies)
• Double Crunch Apple and Cinnamon (NZ)
• Double Crunch Apricot (NZ)

Convenient breakfast cereals

• Up & Go, a milk breakfast drink. Up & Go is sold as a 250ml or 350ml single-serve beverage, or a 1 Litre re-sealable carton. and is marketed towards busy young people. It is a popular product in Australia. Up & Go was launched in both New Zealand and Australia in 1998 and released its 5th flavour, "Iced Coffee" in 2005. In 2007 Sanitarium also released the alternative fruit flavours "Mango & Peach" and "Banana & Honey".
• Fastbreak

Meals

• Deli Luncheon
• Lunch Today

Spreads

• Sanitarium Peanut Butter (manufactured in China)
• Peanuts Peanut Butter (No longer made)
• Natural Peanut Butter
• Marmite(NZ & Aus)
• Vitamite

Dairy Alternatives

• So Good, and its family of products:
• So Good Ice Cream
• So Good Lite
• Flavoured So-Good
• Organics Simply Soy

Meat Alternatives

• Vegie Delights range, which includes 4 kinds of vegan sausages
• Savoury Lentils
• Tender Pieces
• Casserole Mince
• Country Hotpot
• Vegetarian Sausages
• Nutmeat
• Nutolene
• Rediburger
• Sanitarium Brand Nuts & Confectionery

Gizmos and Gadgets

In 2005 Sanitarium New Zealand created a loyalty program which involves collecting cards found in cereal packets and uploading the codes found on them by text messaging or by website Customers then gain points, the number of points decided by the amount and type of the cereal. Points may be redeemed for free or cheaper (than recommended retail price) items.

Qualifying Cereals

Not all Sanitarium cereals qualify for 'Gizmos and Gadgets'. The following do:

• Ricies
• Skippy Cornflakes
• Weet-Bix Fruity
• Weet-Bix Crunch
• Honey Puffs

References

• Parr, R., & Litster, G. (c1996). "What Hath God Wrought!": The Sanitarium Health Food Company Story. Berkeley Vale: Sanitarium Health Food Company
• Leap of Faith "Tax Breaks"

See also

• Battle Creek Sanitarium
• Macrobiotic diet

External links

• Sanitarium Australia
• Sanitarium New Zealand