Major Aussie company Sanitarium announces it will stop selling peanut butter

A much-loved Australian company has some bad news for peanut butter lovers after making major cuts to its popular breakfast range.

Sanitarium Health Food Company confirmed Tuesday that it had halted production of all versions of smooth and crunchy peanut butter in July.

The decision was due to ‘decreasing customer demand and growth of other favorites’.

“Our people have proudly produced every jar made and we thank all our loyal consumers over the past 100 years for their love of our quality range of peanut butter,” a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

“Sanitarium understands that this may be sad news for some consumers, and we sincerely apologize for any disappointment.”

It follows Sanitarium’s decision earlier this year to cease production of a number of breakfast cereals in New Zealand.

The brand’s muesli, granola, bunch and puff pastry cereals from next June will no longer be made from 2025.

The spokesperson said Aussies will not be affected by the change.

Research found that 20 percent of Kiwis turned away from traditional cereal flakes in favor of a hot drink or liquid breakfast.

“The breakfast market is changing and we have seen a global shift in some cereal formats,” Sanitarium New Zealand managing director Michael Barton said. 1News.

‘We must adapt our production to changing consumer wishes and demand trends.’

Mr Barton said Sanitarium is consulting with staff to ensure they are ‘fully supported at this worrying and challenging time’.

Sanitarium Health Food Company said the decision was due to ‘decreasing customer demand’

Marketing expert Professor Bodo Lang believes Sanitarium’s withdrawal from the peanut butter market is part of efforts to tighten its shrinking product portfolio.

‘[This] will enable Sanitarium to focus on its key brands, namely Weet-Bix and Up&Go, [and] focusing their resources, including paid promotion in supermarkets, to more effectively cut through the chaos of the highly competitive breakfast food market,” he said.

Australian management recently received approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to acquire Vita Brits, a rival to its flagship Weet-Bix.

The consumer watchdog found that while the products are similar, Vita Brits is “unlikely to pose a strong competitive constraint” on Weet-Bix if the proposed takeover is not approved.

“We tested the level of competition between the Weet-Bix and Vita Brits products and found that consumers typically do not switch between the two,” ACCC Commissioner Dr Philip Williams said.

‘This finding was consistent with the feedback we received from market research. We have concluded that the proposed acquisition is unlikely to materially reduce competition.”

Founded in Melbourne in 1898, Sanitarium has factories in Australia and New Zealand.

The company is wholly owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

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