Ever since World War ll Australian troops have depended on Vegemite for a taste of home.
Australian doctors started recommending Vegemite as a convenient source of vitamin B after it was approved by the British Medical Association in 1939.
These days you'll find jars and tubes of Vegemite with Aussie backpackers and travelers the world over.
Vegemite is responsible for giving us a second national song - the "Happy Little Vegemites" jingle and it continues to put a rose in every patriotic cheek.
Vegemite dates back to 1922 when the Fred Walker Company, which became Kraft Walker Foods in 1926 and Kraft Foods Limited in 1950, hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources of the vitamin B group - Brewers Yeast.
Following months of laboratory tests, Dr. Cyril P Callister, who became the nation’s leading food technologist of the 1920s and 30s developed a tasty spreadable paste. It came in a two ounce (57g) amber glass jar capped with a Phoenix seal with the label "Pure Vegetable Extract".
In an imaginative approach, Walker turned to the Australian public to officially name his spread. He conducted a national trade-name competition offering an attractive 50 pound prize pool for the finalists. How the 50 pounds was distributed or who was the winning contestant has unfortunately been lost in history, but it was Walker's daughter who chose the winning name out of the hundreds of entries.
That winning name was Vegemite and in 1923 Vegemite first graced grocers' shelves. It was described as "Delicious on sandwiches and toast, and improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies". However, it took 14 long years of perseverance from Walker before Vegemite finally gained acceptance and recognition with the Australian people.
When Australians first heard about Vegemite, a thick, dark English spread (called Marmite) already dominated the spread market and Australians were reluctant to try Fred Walker's locally made product. Poor sales performance resulted in Vegemite being re-named in 1928.
In an attempt to emulate the success of Marmite, Walker re-launched Vegemite as "Parwill". "If Marmite...then Parwill" was the rationale behind Walker's strategy to carve a niche in the market for his concentrated yeast extract spread. However Parwill was only ever sold in Queensland and Walker's creative play-on-words fell on deaf ears and Parwill failed. Walker went back to the drawing board, and finally realised that the Vegemite brand could work. All he had to do was stimulate consumer trial.
In 1935, a vigorous 2-year coupon redemption scheme was launched whereby a jar of Vegemite was given away with every purchase of other products in the Fred Walker Company range. Australians tried the product, and loved it. During this 2-year coupon redemption period, sales of Vegemite leapt, along with its reputation as a tasty, nutritious new spread.
Originally posted by misha
Ever since World War ll Australian troops have depended on Vegemite for a taste of home.Australian doctors started recommending Vegemite as a convenient source of vitamin B after it was approved by the British Medical Association in 1939.
These days you'll find jars and tubes of Vegemite with Aussie backpackers and travelers the world over.
Vegemite is responsible for giving us a second national song - the "Happy Little Vegemites" jingle and it continues to put a rose in every patriotic cheek.
Vegemite dates back to 1922 when the Fred Walker Company, which became Kraft Walker Foods in 1926 and Kraft Foods Limited in 1950, hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources of the vitamin B group - Brewers Yeast.
Following months of laboratory tests, Dr. Cyril P Callister, who became the nation’s leading food technologist of the 1920s and 30s developed a tasty spreadable paste. It came in a two ounce (57g) amber glass jar capped with a Phoenix seal with the label "Pure Vegetable Extract".
In an imaginative approach, Walker turned to the Australian public to officially name his spread. He conducted a national trade-name competition offering an attractive 50 pound prize pool for the finalists. How the 50 pounds was distributed or who was the winning contestant has unfortunately been lost in history, but it was Walker's daughter who chose the winning name out of the hundreds of entries.
That winning name was Vegemite and in 1923 Vegemite first graced grocers' shelves. It was described as "Delicious on sandwiches and toast, and improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies". However, it took 14 long years of perseverance from Walker before Vegemite finally gained acceptance and recognition with the Australian people.
When Australians first heard about Vegemite, a thick, dark English spread (called Marmite) already dominated the spread market and Australians were reluctant to try Fred Walker's locally made product. Poor sales performance resulted in Vegemite being re-named in 1928.
In an attempt to emulate the success of Marmite, Walker re-launched Vegemite as "Parwill". "If Marmite...then Parwill" was the rationale behind Walker's strategy to carve a niche in the market for his concentrated yeast extract spread. However Parwill was only ever sold in Queensland and Walker's creative play-on-words fell on deaf ears and Parwill failed. Walker went back to the drawing board, and finally realised that the Vegemite brand could work. All he had to do was stimulate consumer trial.
In 1935, a vigorous 2-year coupon redemption scheme was launched whereby a jar of Vegemite was given away with every purchase of other products in the Fred Walker Company range. Australians tried the product, and loved it. During this 2-year coupon redemption period, sales of Vegemite leapt, along with its reputation as a tasty, nutritious new spread.
did you type it?
no, got it off the vegemite website!