Alpen (food) - Introduction Into The United States

Introduction Into The United States

Weetabix cereals in the U.K. created Alpen muesli cereals in the late 1960s as a reaction to the natural, organic and environmental movements sweeping the U.S. and UK. Alpen is a simple, whole grain muesli cereal based on rolled oats, fruits and nuts with no preservatives or artificial flavours or colours.

Alpen was the best-selling muesli in the U.S. for a short time in the 1970s (the start of the "natural foods" movement), when Alpen was imported from Weetabix and marketed by Colgate-Palmolive (CP) as one of the first "natural" cereals in the U.S. marketplace. Because of its "back to nature" appeal, Alpen quickly became a best-seller. Competition arose when the Quaker cereal company responded by creation of Quaker 100% natural cereal. CP misjudged Alpen supply and demand, and due to its UK importation, was not able to stock the cereal in a timely fashion. The supply chain became a problem: shelf stock ran out of date and CP had to purchase Alpen back from retailers and destroy it. That, combined with Quaker's marketing effort, ended the short reign of Alpen as the #1 natural brand in the U.S. in the 1970s.

In the U.K., Alpen has been a staple on British shelves since the 1970s and it appeared in the early 1970s in Canada and then in the US in the 1990s after Weetabix established a partnership with natural foods manufacturer, Barbara's Bakery.

In the U.S. today, Alpen No Added Sugar and Alpen Original are mainstays in U.S. natural food stores and Canadian grocery stores. In the UK, Weetabix sells Alpen in four varieties. Alpen is exported to other countries in several varieties.