Австралиялық "Uncle Tobys" компаниясы және тарихы

Australian food manufacturing company

Uncle Tobys is an Australian food manufacturing company which specialises in breakfast oat products. Since its foundation in 1861, the company has expanded its product range across the cereal and ready to eat snack market. Uncle Tobys is currently operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestlé, after being acquired in 2006. Uncle Tobys’ main factory is situated in the town of Wahgunyah, Victoria.

During the gold rush in Victoria, brothers Leonard and George Parsons left England and began manufacturing John Bull Oats in Melbourne. In 1861 they established Parsons Bros. which later became Uncle Tobys. On 23 May 2006, Nestlé announced its acquisition of Uncle Tobys Australia—in addition to the brand rights in New Zealand—for the total sum of $890 million Australian dollars. The Uncle Tobys cereal business—which accounted for approximately 40% of its overall sales—was bought by Cereal Partners Worldwide (a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé). Other sections of the Uncle Tobys business, such as nutritious snacks and instant soups, were directly incorporated into Nestlé Australia. The company sells different types of oats, such as traditional, super blend, and ancient grains. Other popular Uncle Tobys products include: Roll Ups, Cheerios, and snack bars.

80% of the oats used by Uncle Tobys Australia are of the Mikita variety. Mikita oats differ from conventional oats due to higher levels of disease resistance, increased yield potential, and increased levels of β glucan. Uncle Tobys sources 50% of its oats from local farms, which are within 100 km its main factory. Uncle Tobys often advertises the health benefits of its oats, calling them a ‘natural superfood’. Monro et al. (2003) conducted research on three of Uncle Tobys oat bars (Break Free Fruesli, Whole meal Fruit, and Chewy Muesli). The study found that: "Dietary Fibre contents are consistent with recommendations for adult males made by the Standing Committee on the Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes of the Food and Nutrition Board". After the announcement, Uncle Tobys altered its advertising practices to remove the aforementioned phrase. Uncle Tobys was prevented from suggesting that Roll Ups are equivalent to any percentage of fresh fruit and was prevented from running an advertisement that showed an apple being compacted into a Fruit Roll Up. Uncle Tobys had included a disclaimer with the packaging, but this did not impact the verdict.

Historically, the Uncle Tobys brand has been closely associated with swimming. In 1983, the company sponsored its first athlete—Lisa Curry—a swimmer at the Commonwealth Games. Currently, Uncle Tobys has two brand ambassadors: Olympic Champions Cate and Bronte Campbell. Uncle Tobys, in collaboration with Royal Life Saving Australia, previously launched a swimming campaign. The program is named ‘Swim My Way’ and was launched on the 6 March 2018. The aim of this program is to promote swimming to all Australians, regardless of their age demographic.

On 10 January 2020, Food Standards Australia New Zealand issued a product recall for a number of Uncle Tobys products. The recall affected four flavours of fruit roll ups; including passionfruit, rainbow berry, rainbow fruit salad, and fun prints strawberry (Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 2020). The product recall was due to equipment failure within one of Nestle's production facilities, which created the possibility for there to be foreign matter (small metal fragments) in the product. Customers who purchased the recalled batches were entitled to a full refund.