(hokay, lets try this again...) A Short History - Vegemite

How about a bit of background?

Let’s kick off with Vegemite.

Vegemite began life as the leftovers of beer making (hence the yeast) and was transformed into its current incarnation by one Doctor Cyril P. Callister in 1923.

Essentially, because World War One had disrupted imports of Marmite to the Kangaroo Continent, the natives were getting restless, and so the good Doctor was given brewer’s yeast to work with to satisfy the hunger of the masses.

He must have done something right, because today, Vegemite outsells all of its competitors in both New Zealand and Australia.

Yay.

Not.

One thing I still love about the stuff is the reactions it gets out of unsuspecting foreigners. Americans especially seem to cop the flack of the Aussies’ sense of humour. YouTube is littered with videos of Australians teaching those of US of A the 'correct' way to eat said yeasty spread. YouTube is also littered with their reactions. It’s never pretty…

However…Vegemite ain’t all that and a bag of chips either, because Kraft Australia, its maker and owner, will not say if their products contain genetically engineered or modified ingredients. However, Kraft New Zealand did put out a statement saying that the Vegemite manufactured in NZ didn’t have any GE nasties in it (we’re saved! Well, you guys are, I don’t eat the stuff anyway).

On the GE note, let’s flick across to the direct opposition…