for their breakfast cereal of the same name see weetabix . weetabix ltd type private industry breakfast cereal founded 1932 headquarters burton latimer northamptonshire uk area served europe north america key people ceo giles turrel chairman sir richard george products weetabix alpen ready brek owner bright food 60 % lion capital llp 40 % number of employees c. 2 000 website weetabix limited weetabix ltd. trading under the name weetabix food company and commonly referred to as simply weetabix is a food processing company that is responsible for the production of breakfast cereal brands including weetabix alpen and ready brek . the company also produces puffins cereal and snackimals snacks through their barbara s bakery division . the company is co owned by the chinese government through the state run bright food and the equity firm lion capital llp with bright food having the controlling interest . 1 2 contents 1 history 1.1 awards 2 company structure 3 brands 3.1 alpen 3.2 barbara s bakery 3.3 crunchy bran 3.4 grainshop 3.5 oatibix 3.6 oatibix flakes 3.7 ready brek 3.8 weetabix 3.9 weetaflakes 3.10 weetos 4 sponsorship 5 references 6 external links 6.1 news items history edit 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 13 august 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 . citation needed 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 1.2 bn 1.9 bn . 3 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 . citation needed awards edit it has won three queen s awards for export lastly in 2004 . company structure edit the company is headquartered in burton latimer kettering northamptonshire england and its 75 acre 300 000 m2 site is next to the a14 junction with the a6 . it also has factories in corby and ashton under lyne . the company produces 3 billion weetabix breakfast biscuits every year from its kettering site . weetabix is also one of the major manufacturers of generic cereals for the major supermarkets see private brand . weetabix has factories in europe 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 2000 people . 4 brands edit alpen edit main article alpen food barbara s bakery edit the california based natural foods company was purchased by weetabix in 1986 eventually moving operations to marlborough massachusetts . they are particularly well known for their puffins cereal line . 5 6 crunchy bran edit grainshop edit sold primarily in the north american market the grainshop brand has two cereals high fibre crisp and honey almond crunch . high fibre crisp is a blend of four grains wheat and corn bran and oats while honey almond crunch is a combination of crunchy oats flakes almonds and honey . 7 oatibix edit main article oatibix products in the oatibix range are made from oats as opposed to the company s preference to wheat based food . the original oatibix cereal is physically very similar to the company s flagship weetabix but made of whole grain oats . oatibix bitesize is a variant of oatibix with smaller biscuits and is available as oatibix bitesize sultana & apple or oatibix bitesize chocolate & raisin in addition to the original flavour . 8 oatibix flakes edit ready brek edit main article ready brek ready brek is an oat based breakfast cereal that is intended to be served hot and comes in three varieties ; original chocolate and seriously oaty . a butterscotch flavour was marketed during the 1970s . weetabix edit main article weetabix weetabix is a whole grain wheat breakfast cereal that comes in the form of palm sized biscuits . it is weetabix food company s flagship product introduced in 1932 and is officially the top selling breakfast cereal in the united kingdom accounting for 8 % of the country s total cereal sales . the cereal which is manufactured in facilities in kettering england and canada is exported to 80 countries and has annual sales worth over 95 million . 9 weetabix bitesize is essentially a smaller bite sized version of weetabix that can be easily poured into a bowl more like a traditional breakfast cereal . weetabix minis are sweeter variant of the weetabix bitesize with various additions depending upon the variety ; chocolate crisp banana crisp fruit & nut crisp and honey & nut crisp . outside of the u.k. weetabix minis has been re launched and renamed at least twice in a relatively short period of time following their launch . previously they were known as fruitibix bananabix and chocobix depending upon the additions then as minibix . weetaflakes edit weetos edit main article weetos sponsorship edit weetabix was the title sponsor of the women s british open between 1987 and 2006 . it also sponsors northamptonshire police . 10 it was one of the sponsors of the world cup in argentina in 1978 . references edit bright food targets listing cereal maker weetabix by 2016 . bloomberg news . waldmeir patti 3 may 2012 . china s bright food swallows weetabix . financial times . bbc news weetabix bought by china s bright food . bbc online . 3 may 2012 . retrieved 3 may 2012 . financial times april 22 2012 5 23 pm lion capital explores weetabix sale barbara s to leave petaluma . 20 january 2012 . barbara s celebrates 45 years natural & organic gourmet retailer magazine gourmet retailers specialty retail specialty food news and research . weetabix products . weetabix ltd. retrieved june 27 2009 . the weetabix food company oatibix . weetabix ltd. retrieved june 27 2009 . weetabix food company about us . weetabix ltd. retrieved june 27 2009 . police given new mobile station . 9 february 2004 via bbc.co.uk . external links edit alpen weetabix latimer group ltd news items edit prince charles a fan of weetabix in 2004 bought by hicks muse tate & furst in november 2003 for 642m v t e selected royal warrant holders of the british royal family by appointment to hm the queen abels moving services ainsworths angostura limited akzonobel autoglym axminster carpets bendicks bentley motors bollinger britvic bt burberry cadbury carphone warehouse castrol charbonnel et walker daks dhl express dorma ede & ravenscroft fortnum & mason frank smythson gieves & hawkes h. p. bulmer henry poole & co j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons jaguar cars john lewis john lobb land rover louis roederer mappin & webb martini & rossi minky molton brown mo t & chandon nestl procter & gamble uk richer sounds roberts radio ryvita schweppes spode steinway & sons tanqueray twinings unilever uk vauxhall motors veuve clicquot ponsardin waitrose weetabix wilkin & sons william drake wolsey worcestershire medal service by appointment to hrh the duke of edinburgh boots opticians daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes hatchards holland & holland j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons john lobb land rover lyle & scott penhaligon s truefitt & hill by appointment to hrh the prince of wales ainsworths aston martin autoglym bentley motors burberry crabtree & evelyn daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes holland & holland j. barbour and sons jaguar cars james purdey and sons john lobb land rover laphroaig linn products minky penhaligon s peter jones ritz hotel roberts radio shepherd neame taylors of harrogate turnbull & asser vauxhall motors waitrose weetabix winsor & newton category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title weetabix limited & oldid 741850608 categories breakfast cereal companiesfood manufacturers of the united kingdomcompanies established in 1932companies based in northamptonshirebritish royal warrant holders1932 establishments in the united kingdombritish brandshidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from february 2007articles with unsourced statements from october 2009articles with unsourced statements from october 2008 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to 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