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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1898; 127 years ago (1898), inMelbourne, Victoria |
| Headquarters | Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, Australia Auckland, New Zealand |
Key people |
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| Products | Weet-Bix Up & Go Peanut butter So Good Marmite Alternative Dairy Company |
| Revenue | A$300 million |
Number of employees | 1700 |
| Parent | South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists |
| Website | Sanitarium Australia Sanitarium New Zealand |
TheSanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company is thetrade name of two sister food companies (Australian Health and Nutrition Association Ltd[1] andNew Zealand Health Association Ltd).[2] Both are wholly owned by theSeventh-day Adventist Church.[3]
Founded inMelbourne,Victoria, in 1898,[4] Sanitarium has factories in Australia and New Zealand, producing a large range ofbreakfast cereals andvegetarian products. All the food products it manufactures and markets are plant derived orvegetarian. Its flagship product isWeet-Bix sold in Australia and New Zealand.
During his time in Australia in the 1890s,William C. White convinced Seventh-day Adventist Edward Halsey, a baker atJohn Harvey Kellogg'sBattle Creek Sanitarium, to emigrate to Australia.[5][6]
Halsey arrived inSydney,New South Wales, on 8 November 1897.[7] He rented a small bakery in Melbourne, and produced granola (made of wheat, oats, maize, and rye) andGranose (the unsweetened forerunner to Weet-Bix). Halsey and his team sold it from door to door as an alternative to the fat-laden and nutrient-poor foods popular at the time.
The business relocated to larger premises inCooranbong, New South Wales, next to the campus of the seminary which becameAvondale University College.[3][7]
In 1900, Halsey transferred to New Zealand, where he began making the first batches of Granola, New Zealand's first breakfast cereal, Caramel Cereals (a coffee substitute), and wholemeal bread in a small wooden shed[8] in the Christchurch suburb ofPapanui.[9][10]
Sanitarium New Zealand and Sanitarium Australia are now separate companies, but work together.[9]
Sanitarium has factories in several locations, includingBerkeley Vale in New South Wales;Carmel inPerth, Western Australia;Brisbane, Queensland; andAuckland, New Zealand. Weet-Bix was originally manufactured, from 1928, at 659 Parramatta Road,Leichhardt, where until recent times Sanitarium signage could still be seen. This factory predates the purchase of Weet-Bix by Sanitarium in 1930. Another factory was constructed for Sanitarium inWarburton, Victoria in 1925 to manufacture Granose. This factory was damaged by floods in 1934 and a new factory constructed and operational by 1938, producing Granose and later Weet-Bix until 1997. This factory was unusual because it had an on-site hydro-electricity plant which also supplied the township of Warburton.[11] A factory was operating inPalmerston North in New Zealand, but closed in the late 1990s. TheHackney factory inAdelaide, South Australia was closed in October 2010, followed by the Cooranbong factory in 2018.[12]
In June 2017, Sanitarium caused controversy when it objected to a specialty shop-owner based in Christchurch, New Zealand, trying to import 300 boxes ofWeetabix into the country. New Zealand Customs detained the boxes at the request of Sanitarium on the grounds the British-made Weetabix competed with and confused the branding of their own New Zealand-made 'Weet-bix'. Sanitarium faced a backlash in New Zealand as a result.[13] After failing to come to a settlement, Sanitarium filed civil action against the shop owner. The case hearing began in theHigh Court at Christchurch on 30 July 2018.[14] Weetabix is also sold as "Whole Wheat Biscuits" in Australia (as international food).[15]
Neither the Australia nor the New Zealand Sanitarium companies pay company tax on their profits, due to their ownership by a religious organisation.[16][17] On their official website, Sanitarium defend their tax exemption with several points, stating they operate exclusively for charitable purposes, and that income tax exemptions are available to all companies and individuals in New Zealand who limit themselves to charitable purposes.[18] However, the exemption has been criticised[19][20] and is considered unfair by their competitors.[21]
According to their last annual return as of February 2019, businesses operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church reported more than $10 million profit.[22]
Honey Puffs is a wheat breakfast cereal coated withhoney made in Australia and New Zealand.
Marmite is afood spread made in New Zealand. It is made fromyeast extract,by-product ofbeer brewing.
So Good (also known asSoGood orSo-Good) is a brand of non-dairy beverages, foods, and desserts that are lactose, cholesterol and gluten-free.[23] So Good is manufactured by Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company in Australia and New Zealand.[24] In Canada, it was prepared byEarth's Own. So Good is sold in India byLife Health Foods.[25][26]
In Australia, So Good produces soy milk, as well as almond milk and almond and coconut milk. They also produce flavoured soy milk and frozen soy desserts.[27]
In India, So Good produces almond milk and almond and coconut milk, in addition to soy milk. They also produce flavoured soy milk, flavoured almond milk, fortified soy milk, and variants of oat milk.[25]
Up & Go is the brand of a range ofliquid breakfast products manufactured and marketed by Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company. The brand was the first product that established the category of liquid breakfast in supermarket and convenience stores in Australia and New Zealand. Many other brands have entered the category since the late 1990s, and forced the brand to defend its market share.[28]
In June 2013,Choice magazine released a study of 23 liquid breakfast products questioning the validity of claims that were made by manufacturers including Up & Go claims regarding fibre content.[29] Sanitarium defended Up & Go in a release citing the current code of practice for nutrient claims that a product must contain a minimum of 3 g of dietary fibre per serving to be considered "high in fiber" and Up & Go contained 3.8 g of fibre per 250-ml serving.[30]
Weet-Bix is awheat breakfast cereal made in Australia and New Zealand and inSouth Africa byBokomo.
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