For well over 50 years, Sanitarium has been making Skippy Cornflakes in New Zealand, and they are still the number one choice for New Zealanders.

Choosing the Corn
The corn has to be of the highest quality. It must have a certain golden colour and the right amount of moisture along with being free of insects and small stones.

Cleaning
After purchasing the corn it is delivered to the Sanitarium factory in Auckland. The corn is stored in large containers called silos and the temperature is kept under 20ºC to help it to keep its goodness.

Preparation
The corn is steamed to soften it, and the germ and husk are removed. The remaining part is called a grit. The raw grits, which should be as large as possible, are then cooled and dried.

Cooking
The raw grits are placed into a large pressure cooker along with the vitamins (niacin, riboflavin) and the mineral iron. After cooking the grits for two hours another vitamin called thiamin is added.

Drying
The cooked grits are then passed through a drier to reduce their moisture content. Then they go through a sieve to make sure only the correct sized grits are used in the making of Skippy Cornflakes.

Milling
Steam is then added to the grits to make them moist and warm. The grits then run between the large rollers of a mill, which rolls them into a thin flake.

Toasting
The milled flakes move onto a conveyor belt which takes them through an oven where they are toasted for a few minutes.

They blister, develop their golden brown colour and become crisp. Cool air is then blown across the flakes to cool them down.

Packing
The flakes continue on the conveyor belt towards the packing area. They are placed into large bins and are then fed into an automatic packer. The automatic packer weighs the flakes and puts them inside a Skippy packet and heat seals them. The packs are then placed into large cartons, ready for transport to the supermarkets.

To the Supermarket
Sanitarium has a warehouse in Auckland and Christchurch, where the products are stored until they are sent to the supermarket.

Quality Control
Quality Control is important at all stages of production. Technicians regularly check corn characteristics, flake moisture, crispness, colour and thickness of the flakes.