Sanitarium has teamed up with a Taiwanese TV star ahead of the relaunch of its Weet-Bix breakfast cereal in China under a new name.
The TV star and “supermum” Alyssa Chia recently toured the Australian and New Zealand production facilities of Sanitarium, as well as the operations of Manuka Health, a bee-products company, and supplements maker Integria Health Care.
All three companies already sell products in China, including Sanitarium, which saw popularity of Weet-Bix surge there on the back of its appearance in the TV drama series Ode to Joy.
Sanitarium general manager Todd Saunders said Weet-Bix had been sold in China since 2008, but this year saw extraordinary growth following its TV appearance.
“We've seen that Chinese consumers are becoming more attracted to the Australian lifestyle and its association with healthy living, and their interest in Australian breakfast foods is higher than it's ever been.
“So with that in mind we feel it's a great time to launch our new brand Nutri-Brex into the Chinese marketplace as of next month.”
Saunders said the Nutri-Brex brand had already been launched successfully in the UK, and the company was confident that China would also embrace it.
“This gives Sanitarium a strong and distinctive new brand name to position us for growth in the future, while complying with new trademark restrictions in relation to the Weet-Bix name which are now coming into place.”
Saunders said Nutri-Brex is different to Weet-Bix in name only, and it will be manufactured in the same way in Australian and New Zealand factories. Nutri-Brex will hit the shelves in China next month.
Chia said the facility tour enabled her to experience Australian and New Zealand production quality and safety first hand.
Alibaba director John O'Loghlen said Chia's facility tour could foreshadow a new type of food tourism trend in Australia among Chinese visitors.
