72 | Sanitarium Making a difference through diet from page 70 Sanitarium employs a team of 260 with the diversity of roles expected from a modern and innovative food manufacturer. Over half a million Kiwi kids have participated in TRYathlons,. PRODUCTION “It’s about making a difference to people’s lives through diet and the way they see the world…” In total Sanitarium employs a team of 260 with the diversity of roles expected from a modern and innovative food manufacturer. “We have people involved in nutrition and diet, which is an extension of this idea of educating people and providing good healthy products into New Zealand,” says Rob. “There’s quite an emphasis on the culture engagement of our staff to that sense of purpose. My passion is for people to enjoy coming to work, to be fulfilled through their lives at work, be motivated and have that sense of mission. That’s a big part of who we are. We use an umbrella term for our values – ‘Changing lives everyday through whole person health.’ “It’s about making a difference to people’s lives through diet and the way they see the world in a whole sense. It’s not just food — it’s also exercise, well-being and even spirituality. Those words give a sense as to how we try and link our people to that sense of early mission and purpose of pioneering founders.” Making a difference to the lives of others through diet, exercise, well-being and spirituality is evident in Sanitarium’s unwavering commitment to a number of community initiatives, one of which has become a Kiwi classic. For thirty years Sanitarium has been encouraging Kiwi kids to TRY their best at the annual Kids TRYathlon program. To date over half a million Kiwi kids have given it a go. From Dunedin to Bay of Islands, Kiwi kids swim, cycle and run their way to receiving a medal from a sporting hero for their accomplishment. “The series now includes up to eighteen events and over thirty thousand participants each year, although we’ve had to cancel this year’s events due to COVID,” says Rob. In partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Fonterra the KickStart Breakfast program brings a nutritious WeetBix and milk breakfast to over 1,300 Kiwi schools, to set kids up with a good start to the day. “It’s not just about the food but also their education. Originally it was targeted to just low decile schools but with the Government’s support from 2013 we’ve been able to extend that to all decile schools. Last year was a record number of breakfasts with six million serves. Currently over 55% of New Zealand schools have a KickStart Breakfast club programme. Since the program began over 11 years ago 46 million breakfasts have been served to kids across the country. “This is a really good partnership model of private enterprise working with Government and the engagement of the school community who run the programme on the ground. In partnership with corporate fundraising and government support, the New Zealand Food Network was founded in 2020 to support the growing challenge of food insecurity in New Zealand. New Zealand Food Network centralises the collection of food from donors and distributes nationally to food hubs and charities throughout New Zealand. “Sanitarium is proudly a foundation partner and in the first year of operation we have donated over 1.5 million serves of Weet-Bix and other breakfast foods to their East Tamaki hub.” From its humble beginnings, Sanitarium is more than just food manufacturing. There is a sense of mission around why the company was established. The idea of educating people and changing their dietary habits, along with embracing exercise and well-being is still here today.
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