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-Bix 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 Food Company. 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, in order 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.
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 August 13, 1936, with the approval of the Board of Trade, the Company name was changed to Weetabix Limited .
In November 2003, the company was bought from Weetabix Limited, by the American private equity firm HM Capital of Dallas. From 29 January 2004, it was owned by Lion Capital LLP, until 3 May 2012 when the Chinese company Bright Food bought a 60% controlling stake, valuing the company at £1.2bn ($1.9bn).
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.
Alpen was invented in 1971, when the marketing director went on holiday in France and tasted a local delicacy.
Read more about this topic: Weetabix Limited
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