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Alpen is a line of muesli varieties manufactured by the Weetabix cereal company of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England.
Contents
History
Weetabix cereals in the U.K. created Alpen muesli cereal in the late 1960s as a reaction to the natural, organic and environmental movements sweeping the U.S. and UK. Alpen is a whole grain muesli cereal based on rolled oats, fruits and nuts with no preservatives or artificial flavours or colours.
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.
Related cereals and products
In the U.K., Alpen has created several varieties, including:
In both the U.S.and Canada, Alpen varieties are:
As of December 2009, the U.S. Alpens were reformulated to an all-natural formula, discontinuing the use of added vitamins, minerals and organic grains.
In the past, several non-muesli Alpen cereals debuted under the Alpen brand. While most of these cereals have undergone changes in name only, here is a list of cereals which at one were in the Alpen division of Weetabix, along with date of name change.
As a brand extension and a reaction to consumer appetite for whole grain snacks, Weetabix introduced Alpen whole grain cereal bars, which include varieties of several fruit flavours. As of February 2012, these include:
Sugar and whey content
Three varieties of U.K. Alpen include sugar; there is one No Added Sugar variety, also available in the U.S. and Canada. Alpen also contains whey.