Thank you German u-boats!
www.australiangeographic.com.au
A product of war
Vegemite has German U-boats to thank for its invention.
When the first world war began in 1914, Australians were big fans of Marmite, the British yeast extract spread.
As the Germans began sinking ships full of British supplies to Australia, Marmite disappeared from the shelves. Due to the conditions of its patent, Marmite could only be manufactured in Britain.
As a result, there was a gap in the market for a yeast spread.
Fred Walker, who produced canned foods, hired food technologist Cyril P. Callister to create a homegrown yeast spread using brewer’s yeast from the Carlton Brewery.
Callister’s experiments produced a thicker, stronger spread than the original Marmite. Callister’s inclusion of vegetable extracts to improve the flavour would give the spread its name, Vegemite, chosen by Walker’s daughter from competition entries.
Australians were wary of Vegemite when it first appeared on grocery shelves, perhaps due to brand loyalty to Marmite.
100 years of Vegemite, the wartime spread that became an Aussie icon
There are roughly 22 million jars of Vegemite manufactured in the original Melbourne factory every year. According to the Vegemite website, around 80% of Australian households have a jar in the cupboard.
www.australiangeographic.com.au
A product of war
Vegemite has German U-boats to thank for its invention.
When the first world war began in 1914, Australians were big fans of Marmite, the British yeast extract spread.
As the Germans began sinking ships full of British supplies to Australia, Marmite disappeared from the shelves. Due to the conditions of its patent, Marmite could only be manufactured in Britain.
As a result, there was a gap in the market for a yeast spread.
Fred Walker, who produced canned foods, hired food technologist Cyril P. Callister to create a homegrown yeast spread using brewer’s yeast from the Carlton Brewery.
Callister’s experiments produced a thicker, stronger spread than the original Marmite. Callister’s inclusion of vegetable extracts to improve the flavour would give the spread its name, Vegemite, chosen by Walker’s daughter from competition entries.
Australians were wary of Vegemite when it first appeared on grocery shelves, perhaps due to brand loyalty to Marmite.
