10th Anniversary of the word ‘Granola’ in Australia
This is a perspective and a look back in time of a small part of Australian history about how the American and wholly made-up word “granola” became ubiquitous on the breakfast menus of Australian cafes and the supermarket shelves and Brand Partners role in the etymology of the word Granola. It has been a fascinating journey from a lawyer’s perspective to watch the use of a word explode into everyday language because of a case you ran 10 years ago.
Etymology of Granola in Australia
Before 2012, the word granola was almost exclusively restricted in its use by Sanitarium Health (a Seventh-day Adventist company) having a registered trademark and by vigilantly policing the use of the word by restaurant owners and celebrity chefs.
Ironically, the word granola was made up by Dr Kellogg to avoid legal problems with a similar product called granula. So how did the word granola eke into the Australian colloquial language and is gradually replacing the word muesli.
It is important to understand how words change in their meaning the granola manufactured by Sanitarium up to the eighties was of a shredded cardboard consistency (and that is being kind). However, in America, a different type of granola was being associated with the word granola which consisted is a breakfast and snack food consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey or other sweeteners such as brown sugar that is usually baked until crisp, toasted and golden brown.
I personally think the Neil Diamond song Crunchy Granola Suite which is of course a pop-rock song written and recorded in 1971 by Neil Diamond introduced into Australia the contemporary meaning associated with granola in particular the adjective “crunchy”.
From the 1970s onwards, in Australia there was appearances of granola as a breakfast food in various cafes and restaurants, and manufacture and sale of boutique-style packets of such a breakfast food. The take-up of the use of the word granola is an illustration that in the modern world is characterised by rapid communication and extensive cultural exchanges particularly from the USA in the form of films, television programs, music, books and travel. Australians who watch American films and television programs, listen to American music, read American books and/or travel to America will undoubtedly be routinely exposed to many words which are commonplace in the USA and infrequently or less used in Australia. Especially important to note that does not mean the words have no meaning in Australia. The fact is that the word granola has appeared in Australian dictionaries since at least 2004 and, since its invention in the late 1800s, has had more than a century of usage in the USA to percolate into the consciousness of Australians.
Whilst the 1995 edition of Rosemary Stanton’s Complete Book of Food and Nutrition included a reference to granola, I think the adoption by the celebrity chefs Bill Granger and Donna Hay in the 2000s accelerated the uptake of the general use of the word granola. After the adoption by these 2 popular personalities the word granola became descriptive of a toasted muesli.
The Federal Court Decision
The most significant game changer was in 2012 when the Federal Court of Australia in the decision Australian Health & Nutrition Association Limited trading as Sanitarium Health Food Company v Irrewarra Estate Pty Limited trading as Irrewarra Sourdough [2012] FCA 592 (8 June 2012) which recognised that “the word granola, at least as it appears in the context of the packaging in the present case, is inherently suggestive of meaning. Although an invented word it is not nonsensical. The “gran” part, taken together with the “ola” and the aural similarity to “granular”, is suggestive of a grain product.” Brand Partners acted for the respondent and they were successful.
Since this Federal Court decision, the word granola is now used extensively on packaging in Australia to describe of a kind of breakfast cereal resembling muesli.
This is a perspective and a look back in time of a small part of Australian history about how the American and wholly made-up word “granola” became ubiquitous on the breakfast menus of Australian cafes and the supermarket shelves and Brand Partners role in the etymology of the word Granola. It has been a fascinating journey from a lawyer’s perspective to watch the use of a word explode into everyday language because of a case you ran 10 years ago.