Weetabix Limited

Last updated
Weetabix Limited
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Breakfast cereal
FoundedAugust 13, 1932;92 years ago (1932-08-13)
Headquarters Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, UK
Area served
Europe, North America
Key people
Sally Abbott (Managing Director)
Products
Number of employees
c. 2,000
Parent Post Holdings
Website weetabixfoodcompany.co.uk

Weetabix Limited, [1] trading as 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.

Contents

History

See History of Weet-Bix

The food product was originally invented in Australia in the 1920s by Bennison Osborne. Osborne and his friend Malcolm MacFarlane successfully launched Weet-Biscs in Australia and New Zealand under the sponsorship of the owner of Grain Products Ltd., who soon sold the Australasian rights to the Australasian Conference Association Limited Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company.[ citation needed ]

Osborne and MacFarlane decided to expand into South Africa and while there, they began the establishment of the British & African Cereal Company, Ltd., a Private Company, to start a venture in England under the Companies Act 1929 (Company No. 267687), where they became joint Managing Directors until MacFarlane left the Company in 1932/1933, after which Osborne became the sole managing director until 1936, when he left the Company for the United States of America. The first Directors of the Company were Bennison Osborne, Malcolm MacFarlane, Alfred Richard Upton and Arthur Stanley Scrutton. Frank George, who had offered them the use of a disused flour mill in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, subsequently requested and was granted shares in the Company and was offered a place on the Board.[ citation needed ]

The company holds a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II. [2]

For the purpose of differentiating between the various countries, it was decided that the product, when introduced into the United Kingdom, should be known as "Weetabix". On 13 August 1936, with the approval of the Board of Trade, the Company name was changed to Weetabix Limited.

Alpen was invented in 1971, when a company executive was on holiday in Switzerland and tasted a local delicacy. [3]

In November 2003, the company was bought from Weetabix Limited, by the American private equity firm HM Capital of Dallas. [4] From 29 January 2004, it was owned by Lion Capital LLP,[ citation needed ] until 3 May 2012 when the Chinese company Bright Food bought a 60% controlling stake, valuing the company at £1.2bn ($1.9bn). [5]

In 2012 the company was bought by the Chinese Government through the state-run Bright Food, and the equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia, with Bright Food having the controlling interest. [6] [7]

In July 2017, the American company Post Holdings bought the company for £1.4 billion. [8]

The company does not have the rights to the product in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. In these countries, the brand is still known as Weet-Bix and is still made by Sanitarium Health Food Company in Australia and New Zealand and Bokomo in South Africa.

In 2019, Weetabix was fined £140,000 by the Environment Agency for leaking thousands of liters of diesel fuel into the River Ise. The clean-up cost the company £500,000. [9] [10]

In 2021, Weetabix faced strike action over a decision to make workers redundant and re-employ them on lower wages, a practice known as fire-and-rehire. [11] Workers at two of the company's factories went on a four-day strike in November 2021 over wages and working conditions. [12]

Several of Weetabix's PR campaigns have attracted attention online, sparking debates about the creation of a new county called 'Weetabixshire', [13] and the "correct way to eat your bix" in 2023. [14]

In April 2023, Weetabix announced that it had achieved its goal of 100% recyclable packaging two years ahead of schedule. According to the company, the move to all paper packaging would reduce its carbon footprint by 648.4 tons per year. [15] [16]

In December 2023, Weetabix acquired Deeside Cereals, based in North Wales, from Wholebake. [17]

Awards

It has won three Queen's Awards for Export, lastly in 2004.[ citation needed ]

Company structure

The company is headquartered in Burton Latimer, Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, and its 75-acre (30 ha) site is next to the A14 junction with the A6. It also has a factory in Ashton-under-Lyne. The company produces 3 billion Weetabix breakfast biscuits every year from its Kettering site.[ citation needed ]

Weetabix is also one of the major manufacturers of generic cereals for the major supermarkets.[ citation needed ]

Weetabix has factories in Europe, East Africa and North America. It is the largest producer of breakfast cereals in the UK. It exports to eighty countries. As of 2012 it employed around 2,000 people. [18] [ needs update ]

The company's managing director is Sally Abbott. [19]

Brands

Sponsorship

Weetabix was the title sponsor of the Women's British Open between 1987 and 2006. It has also previously sponsored Northamptonshire Police, providing a mobile police station in 2004. [27] It was one of the sponsors of the World Cup in Argentina in 1978. Weetabix was the main sponsor of the first BMX World Championships held in the UK in 1986. These Championships were held at Slough in Berkshire, attracting over 2,000 racers from across the world.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

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<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">Nutri-Grain</span> Breakfast cereal brand

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<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.

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<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.

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<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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Post Holdings</span> American consumer packaged goods holding company

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References

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  11. "Warning of Weetabix shortage amid 'fire and rehire' strike row". BBC News. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  12. "Weetabix workers to hold four-day strikes over pay and conditions". The Guardian. 8 November 2021. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  13. Weetabix lobbying to break away from Northamptonshire and create new UK county. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2024 via www.independent.co.uk.
  14. Wroe, Danielle Kate (6 July 2023). "Weetabix settles age-old milk order debate with very controversial answer". The Mirror. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
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  17. Racz, Eszter (7 December 2023). "Weetabix acquires UK breakfast-cereal peer Deeside Cereals". Just Food. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
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  22. "Barbara's Unveils Redesigned Packaging". 27 January 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020.
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  27. "Police given new mobile station". BBC News. 9 February 2004.