Weetabix Limited - Introduction

Introduction

Weetabix Mills
Burton Latimer
Kettering
Northamptonshire NN15 5JR
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+44) 1536-722-181
Fax: (+44) 1536-726-148
Web site: http://www.weetabix.co.uk

Private Company
Incorporated: 1932
Employees: 2,755
Sales: £361 million ($498.3 million) (2002)
Stock Exchanges: OFEX (non-voting shares)
NAIC: 311230 Breakfast Cereal Manufacturing; 322213 Setup Paperboard Box Manufacturing; 551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies

Privately held, family-controlled (and some say ultrasecretive) Weetabix Limited is one of the United Kingdom's leading makers of branded and private-label cereals. The company also has strong manufacturing operations in the United States and Canada and exports products to a variety of countries, including much of Europe. While slugging it out for market share against such cereal behemoths as Kellogg's and Nestlé, Weetabix has managed to thrive by establishing clear leadership in a limited number of cereal segments. Weetabix's flagship product is, of course, its renowned Weetabix branded cereal, a pressed wheat biscuit designed to turn to mush in milk—making it a favorite food choice across generations. Weetabix has also been a pioneer of the muesli market, under its popular Alpen brand, originally launched in 1971. With its Ready Brek brand, Weetabix is the market leader in the instant hot cereal category as well. Other brands in the Weetabix portfolio include Weetos and Nature's Choice granola bars. In addition to its small branded range, Weetabix has built a strong private-label operation, through subsidiaries Ryecroft Foods in the United Kingdom and Northern Golden Foods in Canada, as well as at its U.S. production facility in Clinton, Massachusetts. Weetabix also operates its own packaging subsidiary, Vibixa Limited, supporting its own products as well as its private-label production. Weetabix is led by Richard George, a member of the family that has controlled Weetabix since the 1940s. Nonvoting shares of the private company are nonetheless listed on the tiny OFEX exchange, designed to provide liquidity for small companies.