Vegemite, a spread produced from brewer's yeast, was created by the Melbourne food manufacturer Fred Walker & Co. in 1923 to compete with the popular British product Marmite. In order to create a similar product, Walker's chemist D.P. Callister determined Marmite's chemical composition, the research for which earned him a DSc from the University of Melbourne. Walker's product, manufactured from leftover yeast from the Carlton Breweries, was named ‘Vegemite’ after a public competition for a name and promoted as a health product.
However, it was regarded as inferior to the British product, and its market-share remained small. In 1928, in an endeavour to recoup sales from Marmite, Vegemite was renamed ‘Parwill’—relying on the slogan ‘if Ma might, Pa will’—but this proved unsuccessful. A boost to sales from the inclusion of Vegemite in soldiers' rations during World War II was augmented by intense commercial promotion in the postwar period. The US company Kraft, which had become a part-owner in the 1930s, gained full control in 1950. The popular advertising jingle that Vegemite ‘put a rose in every cheek’ coincided with its growing popularity with children in the 1950s. Though unappreciated outside Australia, Vegemite has become a national institution.
Helen Doyle
How to cite this entry: Helen Doyle "Vegemite" The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Ed. Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart Macintyre. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 4 January 2012
