Uncle Tobys is an Australian
food manufacturing
Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...
company which specialises in breakfast
oat
The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seeds ...
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
A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...
of
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
, after being acquired in 2006. Uncle Tobys’ main factory is situated in the town of
Wahgunyah,
Victoria.
History

During the
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
in
Victoria, brothers Leonard and George Parsons left England and began manufacturing under the name John Bull Oats in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
.
In 1861 they established Parsons Bros. which later became Uncle Tobys.
Rolled oats
Rolled oats are a type of lightly processed whole-grain food. They are made from oat groats that have been dehusked and steamed, before being rolled into flat flakes under heavy rollers and then stabilized by being lightly toasted.
Thi ...
were considered a commodity during the era and were mentioned in the financial columns of newspapers.
On 23 May 2006,
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
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
Cereal Partners Worldwide S.A. is a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé, established in 1991 to produce breakfast cereals. The company is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and markets cereals in more than 130 countries (excep ...
(a joint venture between General Mills and
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...
). Other sections of the Uncle Tobys business, such as nutritious snacks and instant soups, were directly incorporated into Nestlé Australia.
Products

The Uncle Tobys product suite includes oats, cereals (including
Cheerios
Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States and Canada, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In Europe, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the Nestlé brand; in Austral ...
under the Uncle Tobys brand,
PLUS, Fruity Bites), snacks (
Chewy bars, gummy fruit rolls as "Roll-Ups", and
Crackers), and "goodness shakes".
Oats and nutrition
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
Beta-glucans, β-glucans comprise a group of β-D-glucose polysaccharides (glucans) naturally occurring in the cell walls of cereals, bacteria, and Fungus, fungi, with significantly differing Physical chemistry, physicochemical properties depen ...
.
Mikita oats were developed at the
South Australian Research Development Institute (SARDI), by the National Oat Breeding Program. The research was funded by the Uncle Tobys Corporation, in partnership with various governmental and corporate entities.
Uncle Tobys sources 50% of its oats from local farms, which are within 100 km its main factory.
In its corporate supply chain, Uncle Tobys exclusively utilises suppliers who have been certified as “Level A” by the
National Association of Sustainable Agriculture.
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".
Advertising malpractice
On 13 September 2006, the
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) mandated that Uncle Tobys stop advertising that its
Fruit Roll-Ups are ‘Made with 65% real fruit’. The chairman of the commission released a statement saying: "The ACCC was concerned that the Roll-Ups composition was being misrepresented to consumers".
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.
After the mandate, the ACCC required Uncle Tobys to publish an article for the food industry, emphasising the importance of advertising standards.
In the article, Uncle Tobys stated that its "key learning from this experience was that in making representations to consumers, we have to carefully consider how consumers might view both representations on packaging and the overall impression created by all the aspects of product marketing, including labels, branding and advertising."
On 26 November 2015, Uncle Tobys was fined $32,400 for false claims about the protein content in oats,
after being warned three times by the ACCC in infringement notices. The commission issued infringement notices because it had reason to believe that Cereal Partners Australia had violated
Australian Consumer Law
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), beinto the ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'', is uniform legislation for consumer protection, applying as a law of the Commonwealth of Australia and is incorporated into the law of each of Australia's state ...
by misrepresenting the protein content within Uncle Tobys oat products. The commission alleged that the packaging “made false or misleading representations that the oats in these Uncle Tobys products contained a significant amount of protein, which is not the case”.
Uncle Tobys had included a disclaimer with the packaging, but this did not impact the verdict.
Swim My Way initiative
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
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
. 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.
See also:
Swim Kids, another initiative by Uncle Tobys, with the purpose of helping kids learn how to swim.
Product recall
On 10 January 2020,
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) (Māori: ''Te Mana Kounga Kai – Ahitereiria me Aotearoa''), formerly Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), is the statutory authority in the Australian Government Health portfolio that is ...
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 Nestlé'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.
See also
*
List of oldest companies in Australia
This list of oldest businesses and companies in Australia includes businesses, whether incorporated or organised in a different form (such as a partnership). However, the list excludes non-commercial associations and educational, governmental, or ...
References
External links
*
{{Oats
1892 establishments in Australia
Australian companies established in 1892
Australian cuisine
Australian brands
Breakfast cereal companies
Nestlé brands
Food and drink companies of Australia