Vegemite is a thick, very dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. It was developed by Cyril Percy Callister in Melbourne, Victoria in 1922. The Vegemite brand is currently owned by Mondelez International,[4] but will be acquired by the Australian Bega Cheese group following an agreement in January 2017.[5]
A spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits as well as a filling for pastries, Vegemite is similar to British, New Zealand and South African Marmite, Australian Promite, MightyMite, AussieMite, OzEmite and Swiss Cenovis.
Vegemite is salty, slightly bitter, malty, and rich in umami – a glutamate similar in flavour to beef bouillon.
In 1919, following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I and prior to the introduction of Vegemite, Callister's employer, the Australian company Fred Walker & Co., gave him the task of developing a spread from the used yeast being dumped by breweries. Callister had been hired by the chairman Fred Walker.[6] Vegemite was registered as a trademark in Australia that same year. Callister used autolysis to break down the yeast cells from waste obtained from the Carlton & United brewery. Concentrating the clear liquid extract and blending with salt, celery and onion extracts[7] formed a sticky black paste.
Fred Walker's company first created and sold Vegemite in 1922.
Following a nationwide competition with a prize of £50 (2010:$3,527) to find a name for the new spread, the name "Vegemite" was selected out of a hat by Fred Walker's daughter, Sheilah. The winners, local sisters Hilda and Laurel Armstrong (aged 18 and 20 at the time) of Albert Park, Victoria entered the winning name and were known as "The Vegemite Girls" for the rest of their long lives.[8] Vegemite first appeared on the market in 1923 with advertising emphasising the value of Vegemite to children's health but failed to sell very well.[9] Faced with growing competition from Marmite, from 1928 to 1935 the product was renamed as "Parwill" to make use of the advertising slogan "Marmite but Parwill", a convoluted pun on the new name and that of its competitor; "If Ma [mother] might... then Pa [father] will." This attempt to expand market share was unsuccessful and the name was changed back to Vegemite; but did not recover lost market share
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