Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company

Last updated

Sanitarium
TypePrivate
Industry Food
Founded Melbourne, Victoria 1898
Headquarters Berkeley Vale, New South Wales, Australia
Auckland, New Zealand
Key people
Kevin Jackson, CEO, Todd Saunders GM Australia, Robert Scoines, GM-New Zealand
Products Weet-Bix
Up & Go
Peanut butter
So Good
Marmite
Alternative Dairy Company
Revenue A$300 million
Number of employees
1700
Parent Seventh-day Adventist Church
Website Sanitarium Australia
Sanitarium New Zealand

The Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company is the trading name of two sister food companies (Australian Health and Nutrition Association Ltd [1] and New Zealand Health Association Ltd). [2] Both are wholly owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. [3]

Contents

Founded in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1898, [4] Sanitarium has factories in Australia and New Zealand, producing a large range of breakfast cereals and vegetarian products. All the food products it manufactures and markets are plant derived or vegetarian. Its flagship product is Weet-Bix sold in Australia and New Zealand.

History

Sanitarium factory at Cooranbong, New South Wales Cooranbong Factory.jpg
Sanitarium factory at Cooranbong, New South Wales

During his time in Australia, William C. White convinced Seventh-day Adventist Edward Halsey, a baker at John Harvey Kellogg's Battle Creek Sanitarium, to emigrate to Australia. [5] [6]

Halsey arrived in Sydney, 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) and Granose (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 in Cooranbong, New South Wales, next to the campus of the seminary which became Avondale 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 of Papanui. [9] [10]

Sanitarium New Zealand and Sanitarium Australia are now separate companies, but work together. [9]

Sanitarium has factories in several locations, including Berkeley Vale in New South Wales; Carmel in Perth, Western Australia; Brisbane, Queensland; and Auckland, 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 in Warburton, 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 in Palmerston North in New Zealand, but closed in the late 1990s. The Hackney factory in Adelaide, 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 of Weetabix 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 the High Court at Christchurch on 30 July 2018. [14]

Tax exemption

Neither the Australia nor the New Zealand Sanitarium companies pay company tax on their profits, due to their ownership by a religious organisation. [15] [16] 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. [17] However, the exemption has been criticised [18] [19] and is considered unfair by their competitors. [20]

According to their last annual return as of February 2019, businesses operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church reported more than $10 million profit. [21]

Products

Up & Go

Up & Go is the brand of a range of liquid 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. [22]

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. [23] 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 fiber per 250-ml serving. [24]

Weet-Bix

Weet-Bix is a wheat break cereal made in Australia and New Zealand and in South Africa by Bokomo.

Honey Puffs

Honey Puffs is a wheat break cereal coated with honey made in Australia and New Zealand.

Spreads

Marmite Nzmarmite.jpg
Marmite

Marmite is a food spread made in New Zealand. It is made from yeast extract, by-product of beer brewing.

So Good (soy beverage)

So Good (also known as SoGood or So-Good) is a brand of non-dairy beverages, foods, and desserts that are lactose, cholesterol and gluten-free. [25] So Good is manufactured by Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company in Australia and New Zealand. [26] In Canada, it is prepared by Earth's Own. So Good is sold in India by Life Health Foods. [27] [28]

In Australia, So Good produces soy milk, as well as almond milk and almond and coconut milk. They also produce flavored soy milk and frozen soy desserts. [29]

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, and fortified soy milk. [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breakfast cereal</span> Processed food made from grain

Breakfast cereal is a breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in Western societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn flakes</span> Type of breakfast cereal

Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). Originally invented as a breakfast food to counter indigestion, it has become a popular food item in the American diet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weetabix Limited</span> British food company

Weetabix Ltd., trading under the name Weetabix Food Company, is a food processing company that is responsible for the production of breakfast cereal brands, including Weetabix, Alpen, Crunchy Bran and Ready Brek. The company also produces Puffins cereal and Snackimals snacks through their Barbara's Bakery division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weet-Bix</span> High-fiber and low sugar breakfast cereal biscuit

Weet-Bix is a whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal created and manufactured in Australia and New Zealand by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, and in South Africa by Bokomo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Harvey Kellogg</span> American physician

John Harvey Kellogg was an American businessman, inventor, physician, and advocate of the Progressive Movement. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, founded by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It combined aspects of a European spa, a hydrotherapy institution, a hospital and high-class hotel. Kellogg treated the rich and famous, as well as the poor who could not afford other hospitals. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, his "development of dry breakfast cereals was largely responsible for the creation of the flaked-cereal industry."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granola</span> Breakfast, lunch and snack food

Granola is a food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, seeds, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar, and sometimes puffed rice, that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown. The mixture is stirred while baking to avoid burning and to maintain a loose breakfast cereal consistency. Dried fruit, such as raisins and dates, and confections such as chocolate are sometimes added. Granola is often eaten in combination with yogurt, honey, fresh fruit, milk or other forms of cereal. It also serves as a topping for various pastries, desserts or ice cream. Muesli is similar to granola, except that it is traditionally neither sweetened nor baked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpen (food)</span> Breakfast cereal made by Weetabix

Alpen is a line of muesli varieties manufactured by the Weetabix cereal company of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shredded wheat</span> Breakfast cereal made from whole wheat

Shredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made from whole wheat formed into pillow-shaped biscuits. It is commonly available in three sizes: original, bite-sized and miniature. Both smaller sizes are available in a frosted variety, which has one side coated with sugar and usually gelatin. Some manufacturers have produced "filled" versions of the bite-size cereal containing a raisin at the center, or apricot, blueberry, raspberry, cherry, cranberry or golden syrup filling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weetos</span> Breakfast cereal made by Weetabix

Weetos is a brand of chocolate-flavoured breakfast cereal produced by Weetabix Food Company. The name comes from the fact that its primary ingredient is wheat (Weet-) and the cereal pieces are in O shapes (-Os), the same naming convention that is used on the company's flagship cereal Weetabix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weetabix</span> Breakfast cereal

Weetabix is a breakfast cereal produced by Weetabix Limited in the United Kingdom. It comes in the form of palm-sized wheat biscuits. Variants include organic and Weetabix Crispy Minis (bite-sized) versions. The UK cereal is manufactured in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, and exported to over 80 countries. Weetabix for Canada and the United States is manufactured in Cobourg, Ontario, in both organic and conventional versions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oat milk</span> Type of plant milk made from oats

Oat milk is a plant milk derived from whole oat grains by extracting the plant material with water. Oat milk has a creamy texture and mild oatmeal-like flavor, and is manufactured in various flavors, such as sweetened, unsweetened, vanilla, and chocolate.

A mechanical soft diet or edentulous diet, or soft food(s) diet, is a diet that involves only foods that are physically soft, with the goal of reducing or eliminating the need to chew the food. It is recommended for people who have difficulty chewing food, including people with some types of dysphagia, the loss of many or all teeth, pain from recently adjusted dental braces, or surgery involving the jaw, mouth, or gastrointestinal tract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bokomo</span> Breakfast cereal company in South Africa

Bokomo Foods is the largest breakfast cereal company in South Africa, and is a division of Pioneer Foods (Pty) Ltd.

Ruskets was a cereal product consisting of pressed biscuits of toasted wheat flakes. They were produced by Loma Linda Foods, a health food company owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1938 the company's main product was Ruskets. A similar item, "Weet-Bix", remains popular in many countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honey Puffs</span>

Honey Puffs is a breakfast cereal produced by Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company and sold in New Zealand and formerly sold in Australia. It is made by puffing pieces of wheat and lightly coating them all over with honey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plamil Foods</span> British manufacturer of vegan foods

Plamil Foods Is a British manufacturer of vegan food products. Founded in 1965, the company has produced and pioneered soy milk, egg-free mayonnaise, pea-based milk, yogurts, confection bars and chocolate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weet-Bix cards</span> Collector cards

Weet-Bix cards are a series of collectors' cards issued in cereal boxes by the Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company in Australia and New Zealand.

La Loma Foods, formerly named Loma Linda Food Company and Loma Linda Foods, and with products presently branded under the name Loma Linda and Loma, is a former food manufacturing company that produced vegetarian and vegan foods. It is presently an active brand of vegetarian and vegan food products produced and purveyed by the Atlantic Natural Foods Company of Nashville, North Carolina. Loma Linda Foods began operations in 1905 under the name The Sanitarium Food Company and was owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church until 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Willis Miller</span> American physician and Seventh-day Adventist missionary

Harry Willis Miller was an American physician, thyroid surgeon and Seventh-day Adventist missionary. Miller was a vegetarian and pioneer in the development of soy milk.

References

  1. "Australian Health and Nutrition Association Ltd", Bloomberg
  2. "...New Zealand Health Association Limited trading as Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company...", sanitarium.co.nz
  3. 1 2 "Sanitarium Health Food Company". Adventist.org. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010.
  4. "Vegetarianism in Australia: A History" (PDF). 16 June 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  5. "Peddling Health". Adventistreview.org. 6 June 2002. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012.
  6. Crook, Edgar. "Vegetarianism in Australia, A History" (PDF). Ivu.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Moments that made us". Sanitarium.com.au.
  8. "Edward Halsey's Sanitarium Red Shed". Ketechristchurch.peoplesnetworknz.info. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  9. 1 2 "History". Sanitarium.co.nz.
  10. "Spreads and breakfast cereals". Teara.govt.nz.
  11. "Sanitarium Health Food Factory - Docomomo Australia". docomomoaustralia.com.au. 29 April 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  12. Hagen, Darren (7 June 2017). "In Australia, Food Factory Plant Gets Ready for Closure". AdventistReview. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  13. Roy, Elanor Ainge (30 June 2017). "British Weetabix seized by New Zealand customs in breakfast bowl battle with rival". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  14. Clarkson, David (30 July 2018). "Weet-bix versus Weetabix stoush hits High Court". Stuff. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  15. "Charities Services" . Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  16. "New Zealand Health Association Limited (1503254) Registered". New Zealand Companies Office. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  17. "Sanitarium gives its profits for charitable purposes". Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  18. Wallace, Max (8 August 2008). "Render unto Caesar". The Australian . Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  19. Gomez, Frank (18 April 2011). "Rich men in the tax-free kingdom of God". The Punch . Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  20. Blundell, Sally (2 February 2008). "The God dividend". listener.co.nz. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  21. Blake-Persen, Nita (20 February 2019). "Is it time for charity-owned businesses to start paying tax?" . Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  22. "Liquid breakfasts: up and going strong" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  23. "Liquid breakfasts should up and go" . Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  24. "'Up & Go claims are healthy', Sanitarium hits back at Choice". Food Magazine. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  25. "So Good Nutrition". sanitarium.com.au. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  26. "Soy Milks". sanitarium.com.au. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  27. 1 2 "Life Health Foods - bringing you So Good a delicious range of almond milk". Life Health Foods. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  28. "So Good and Soy Milky". So Good and Soy Milky. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  29. "Sanitarium So Good". sanitarium.com.au. Retrieved 19 July 2015.

Further reading