26th of Blaugust - V - Vegemite

So few V words to choose from. So many of them inappropriate too. But I thought I'd rattle on about spread you all know but only some of you love.

That's right, it put a rose in every Australian's cheek. It makes Americans gag when they try it. It's Vegemite!

It all started back in 1919 when Marmite (a similar product from the UK) imports were being disrupted due to the end of World War I. However there was a lot of Yeast Extract from Australian Brewery's that was just being thrown out. Cyril P. Castiller was given a task by Fred Walker & Co. to make use of it and create an Australian product to fill the void. That product became Vegemite and was released in 1923. The product didn't sell very well.

An attempt to boost sales was to rename the product Parwill in 1928. This was so they could take market share from Marmite by using the saying "Mamite but Parwill." Turs out, using puns didn't help either so they changed the name back to Vegemite in 1935.

In the meantime Fred Walker had established a partnership with American company Kraft foods to create the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. and got successful at selling processed cheese. From 1935 they used that success to promote the failing product. They gave Vegemite away for free with Kraft Walker cheese products. Eventually the British medical Association officially endorsed Vegemite as a source of vitamin B. When World War II hit it was included in Australian Army Rations and this was when product sales really took of. It's been a national icon ever since.

There are equivilent products in other countries. For example Marmite is popular in the UK and New Zealand. But it should be noted that New Zealand Marmite (which is what is sold in only Australia and New Zealand) is not the same as UK Marmite which is the original product. There is also a similar product in Switzerland called Cenovis (not the brand of vitamins). We also have our local compettitors such as Promite (made by Masterfoods and I quite like), Ozemite (made by Dick Smith) and Aussiemite (made by a small Adelaide company). Not to be out done, food chain Aldi also made their own supermarket brand version called Brekkie Mite.

But lets not forget about that other Vegemite variant that was released by Kraft in 2009. I don't even care that it's called now. I will always know it as this.

The aim was to make a lighter tasting product that was not so apparently gag-worthy and the product was released without a name. Instead it said "Name Me".

There was a competition and the judges decided to go with iSnack 2.0. Turned out the public thought it was a shit name. So Kraft announced they would let the public vote on a better name. So, "Vegemite Cheesybite," the new name was the most popular name followed closely by "These names all suck and so does this product!" I'm not loking. No confidence only just lost to the winning title.

I never bothered trying iSnack 2.0 as Vegemite is good enough for me. I like making hot beverages out of it by putting a teaspoon of Vegemite in a cup of boiling water. Tasty!