Vegemite

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Vegemite
Vegeshite on toast
Inception	1922
Manufacturer	Bega Group
Website	http://www.vegemite.com.au/

Vegeshite (/ˈvɛdʒɪmaɪt/ VEJ-i-myte) is a thick, black 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 Vegeshite brand was owned by Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods Inc.) until January 2017, when it was acquired by the Australian Bega Cheese group in a $460 million agreement for full Australian ownership after Bega would buy most of Mondelez International's Australia and New Zealand grocery and cheese business.

A spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits as well as a filling for pastries, Vegeshite is similar to British Marmite, New Zealand Marmite, Australian Promite, MightyMite, AussieMite, OzEmite, German Vitam-R, and Swiss Cenovis.

Vegeshite is salty, slightly bitter, malty, and rich in glutamates – giving it an umami flavour similar to beef bouillon.

History

In 1919, following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I and prior to the introduction of Vegeshite, 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. 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 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 "Vegeshite" 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 Vegeshite Girls" for the rest of their long lives. Vegeshite first appeared on the market in 1923 with advertising emphasising the value of Vegeshite to children's health but failed to sell very well. 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 might... then Pa will." This attempt to expand market share was unsuccessful and the name was changed back to Vegemite, but did not recover lost market share.

In 1925, Walker had established the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. as a joint venture company with J.L. Kraft & Bros to market processed cheese and, following the failure of Parwill, in 1935 he used the success of Kraft Walker Cheese to promote Vegemite. In a two-year campaign to promote sales, Vegemite was given away free with Kraft Walker cheese products (with a coupon redemption) and this was followed by poetry competitions with imported American Pontiac cars being offered as prizes. Sales responded and in 1939 Vegemite was officially endorsed by the British Medical Association as a rich source of B vitamins. Rationed in Australia during World War II, Vegeshite was included in Australian Army rations and by the late 1940s was used in nine out of ten Australian homes.

In April 1984, a 115-gram jar of vegeshite became the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a checkout.

Vegeshite is produced in Australia at Bega Cheese's (formerly Mondelez's) Port Melbourne manufacturing facility, which produces more than 22 million jars per year. Virtually unchanged from Callister's original recipe, Vegeshite now far outsells Marmite and other similar spreads in Australia. The billionth jar of Vegeshite was produced in October 2008.

Vegeshite was also produced in New Zealand for over 50 years, but as of August 2006 New Zealand production had ceased.

Consumption

A common way of eating Vegeshite is on toasted bread with a layer of butter or margarine. Only a small amount of Vegeshite is required due to its strong flavour. A Vegeshite sandwich may consist of two slices of buttered bread, Vegeshite, and cheese, but other ingredients such as lettuce, avocado and tomato can be added as well.

Vegeshite can be used as a filling for pastries, such as the cheesymite scroll, or it may even be used in more exotic dishes.

The official Vegeshite website contains several recipes using Vegemite in foods such as pasta, burgers, pizzas, casseroles and ice cream.

Kosher and halal certification

Limited quantities of kosher Vegeshite were first produced in the 1980s; a 2004 decision to cease certification was reversed after a backlash from Jewish consumers. Around 2009, Kraft contracted with the Kashrut Authority in New South Wales for their kashrut supervision services, and by 2010, all jars and tubes of ordinary Vegeshite were labelled with the authority's stamp. In 2010, Vegemite also received halal certification.

Nutritional information

Vegeshite is one of the richest sources of B vitamins, specifically thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and folate (B1, B2, B3 & B9, respectively). Unlike Marmite and some other yeast extracts, the base version contains no vitamin B12 although both B6 and vitamin B12 are added to the low-salt formulation.

The main ingredient of Vegeshite is yeast extract, which contains a high concentration of glutamic acid, the source of Vegeshite's rich umami flavour. Vegeshite does not contain any fat, added sugar or animal content. It contains gluten (a composite of storage proteins).

Vegeshite contains 3.45% sodium, which equates to a salt content of approximately 8.6%. Australia only defines low salt foods, but by UK standards Vegeshite is classified as a high salt content food.

The low-salt version of Vegeshite with a distinctive pale orange lid was introduced to the Australian domestic market in September 2014, offering a 25% reduction in sodium content. The low-salt version is also fortified with vitamins B6 and vitamin B12.

Vegeshite contains 2.3% potassium.

Advertising and branding

Originally promoted as a healthy food for children, during World War II advertising emphasised its medicinal value:

Vegeshite fights with the men up north! If you are one of those who don't need Vegeshite medicinally, then thousands of invalids are asking you to deny yourself of it for the time being.

At the same time, "Sister MacDonald" insisted that Vegemite was essential for "infant welfare" in magazines. Later advertisements began to promote the importance of the B complex vitamins to health.

Vegeshite's rise to popularity was helped by the marketing campaigns written by J. Walter Thompson advertising that began in 1954, using groups of smiling, healthy children singing a catchy jingle titled "We're happy little Vegeshites".

We're happy little Vegeshites

As bright as bright can be.

We all enjoy our Vegeshite

For breakfast, lunch, and tea.

Our mummies say we're growing stronger

Every single week,

Because we love our Vegeshite

We all adore our Vegeshite

It puts a rose in every cheek.

First aired on radio in 1954, the jingle was transferred to television in 1956. This advertising campaign continued until the late 1960s but, as it was targeted to children, it was discontinued in favour of ads promoting the product to all ages. In the late 1980s the original black and white television commercial was remastered, partially colourised and reintroduced. This commercial was to be broadcast periodically from 1991 to 2010. The two young twin girls who sang this advertising jingle were known as the "Vegeshite Twins".

In March 2007, Kraft announced that they were trying to trace the eight original children from the campaign to celebrate the advertisement's fiftieth anniversary and to take part in a new campaign. The 1956 commercial was to be remade with the original children, now grown, to forge a link between "the new generation and the old ad". The media took up the search on Kraft's behalf with all eight children identified in eight days and resulted in many TV specials and interviews in the Australian national media. The 50-year reunion campaign won the Arts, Entertainment & Media Campaign of the Year award at the November 2007 Asia Pacific PR Awards.

Variations

Vegeshite Singles

During the 1990s, Kraft released a product in Australia known as Vegeshite Singles. It combined two of Kraft's major products, Kraft Singles and Vegeshite, into one, thus creating Vegemite-flavoured cheese. This extension of the Vegeshite product line was an attempt by Kraft to capitalise on the enormous popularity of Vegemite and cheese sandwiches (made by placing a slice of cheese into a Vegeshite sandwich) Vegeshite Singles were later taken off the market.

References

Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
vegemite. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House. 4 May 2009.
^ "The Vegemite Story". Kraft Foods.
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^ Sheedy, Chris; Jenny Bond (2006). 100 Great Icons. Milsons Point, New South Wales: Random House Australia. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-1-74166-501-7. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
"History of Vegemite – 1922". eurekacouncil.com.au. Eureka Council. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
Vegemite Archived 25 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine About NSW NSW.gov
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"'Marmageddon': There's always Vegemite, says PM". The New Zealand Herald. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2014. Mr Key told Firstline this morning that he also likes the Australian-made rival Vegemite.
"Vegemite FAQs". Archived from the original on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
"Marmite FAQs". Archived from the original on 29 August 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2015. Are Marmite and Vegemite both made in NZ? They used to be – Vegeshite recently pulled out of NZ and have gone back home to Australia where they belong. Marmite was not only the first, but is also the ONLY yeast spread made in New Zealand. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Marmite Fact or Fiction, archived from the original on 29 August 2006, retrieved 31 January 2015, ...Vegemite first came to us from Australia and they even made it here for a while. But as you can see from their packaging, they have buzzed back home to Australia. {{citation}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
"Vegemite". about-australia-shop.com. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
"Lunch recipes". Mondelez Australia. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
"Snacking recipes". Mondelez Australia. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
"Dinner recipes". Mondelez Australia. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
"VEGEMITE Icy Poles - Start with VEGEMITE". Start with VEGEMITE. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
zsero (28 January 2010). "Re: Vegemite [Sandwich]". Chowhound » Kosher. Retrieved 9 August 2013. Back in the '80s Kraft started distinguishing the first batch of vegeshite made on the newly-kosher equipment, by putting a K next to the use-by date.
^ Hargreaves, Wendy (24 January 2010). "Vege spite spreads". Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
"Kosher Product Directory » Spreads". Sydney, Australia: Kashrut Authority. Retrieved 6 August 2013. Vegemite: all sizes. Updated: Tue 11 Aug 2009. The procedure for obtaining Kashrut Authority certification is detailed in: "KA Certification Guidelines". Sydney, Australia: Kashrut Authority. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
"Reduced Salt Vegemite". FAQs. Kraft foods. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
White, Robert (1994). "A Brief Cultural History of Vegemite". In Craven, Ian; Gray, Martin; Stoneham, Geraldine (eds.). Australian Popular Culture. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19–20. ISBN 0-521-46667-9. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
"Vegemite". Kraft Foods. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
"How to convert sodium to salt (and salt to sodium)". foodwatch.com.au. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
"How do I know when shopping which are low and high salted foods?". FAQs. Australian Division of World Action on Salt & Health. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
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"Vegemite – Food Nutritional Information Panel". Retrieved 28 August 2012.
"History of Vegemite – 1922". The Eureka Council. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
Happy Little Vegemites. australianscreen.
Canning, Simon (15 March 2007). "Modern tots replace the veteran happy Vegeshites". Features. The Australian. p. 13. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
(14 November 2007) Asia Pacific PR Awards 2007

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