Sanitarium started producing Weet-Bix in 1930 and by 1936 it was New Zealanders number one choice of breakfast cereal - and still is. Today, Weet-Bix is associated with the annual Weet-Bix Tryathlon, which is the worlds number one kids sporting event and there is a whole family of Weet-Bix products available - Weet-Bix Oat Bran, Weet-Bix Hi Bran Hi-Bran, Weet-Bix Bites and Weet-Bix Multi-Grain.

Choosing the best wheat
The wheat used in the making of Weet-Bix has to be of the highest quality. It has to have the right amount of moisture and protein along with being free of stones and insects.

Cleaning
The wheat arrives from the farms and is placed in large containers (called silos) at the Sanitarium factories in Auckland and Christchurch. It is then cleaned and stored in silos at a temperature below 20ºC.

Cooking
The wheat is mixed with the other ingredients and steamed in large pressure cookers for 1-2 hours.

After this the grains become soft and rubbery.

Drying
The wheat is then cooled and dried in a large flat round dish by blowing cool air from underneath.

Milling
The wheat now passes between two rotating rollers so that the whole grains are rolled to form flakes.

Moulding
The milled flakes are compressed into moulds in rows on a continuous chain to form biscuits.

Toasting
The moulded biscuits take 30 minutes to toast as they move slowly through a large oven, on a conveyor belt.

Packing
The packing machine automatically puts biscuits in packets.

Sanitarium factories in Auckland and Christchurch produce millions of Weet-Bix every week. In fact, our Auckland factory produces about 1.5 million per day.

In one year Auckland and Christchurch factories combined produced 330 million Weet-Bix.

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. The technicians regularly check wheat characteristics, flake moisture, crispness, colour and thickness of the biscuits.