The first Company-owned vehicle was a decrepit horse and old dray, that carried raw materials from Morisset to the factory and the manufactured goods to the train station for delivery to Sydney. By 1902, both were so worn that Metclafe Hare built a 35 foot launch, ‘Avondale,’ for transporting finished product down Dora Creek to the station.
In the very early days in Sydney, one or two men pushed a hand cart up and down the streets with product. These were replaced by horses and drays. In 1917 they were replaced with a large solid tyre Leyland truck. About 1928, the Company purchased the first of many large vans in both New Zealand and Australia. Most were Leylands, but some were Graham, Dodge and Reo trucks. These are fondly remembered for the beautiful artwork on the side and rear panels. In 1934, ‘Big Bertha’, a large Leyland truck that could fill a rail goods wagon with one load was used to make quicker trips by road.
By 1935, the Company was using 25 cars and 40 trucks and vans.
Some of the lesser known vehicles used in the Company have been three-wheel bikes. As business improved in the early 1920s, sales representatives were supplied with motor bikes and sidecars. The first Weet-Bix vehicles were ten Chevrolet vans similar to T-model Fords. Similar small vans were used in Perth, Christchurch and Melbourne. In the 1930s, most branch managers proudly drove grey Buick cars.
Sanitarium was an early pioneer in the export of foods to world-wide markets, and was making its mark on South-east Asia as early as 1905. The Company opened a small warehouse in Clarence St, Sydney – convenient to the wharves from which ships left for the Pacific Islands and South-east Asia. Company records indicate initial shipments to Singapore in 1906, and within a few years sales were being recorded in South Africa, India, China, Malaysia, Burma and throughout the Pacific Islands.