Vegemite (/ˈvɛdʒimaɪt/ VEJ-ee-myte)[1][2] is a thick, dark brown[3] Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives.

It was developed by Cyril Callister in Melbourne, Victoria, for the Fred Walker Company in 1922 and was first sold in stores on 25 October 1923.

A spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits as well as a filling for pastries, Vegemite is similar to other yeast-based spreads such as Marmite in the UK and its New Zealand version, Australian Promite, MightyMite, AussieMite, OzEmite, German Vitam-R and Swiss Cenovis.

It is salty, slightly bitter, malty and has an umami flavour similar to beef bouillon (because it is rich in glutamates).

[5] However, in 2017 the brand returned to Australian ownership when the Bega Group purchased it alongside other assets from Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods Inc.).

[6] In 1919, following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I, the Australian company Fred Walker & Co. gave Cyril Callister the task of developing a spread from the used yeast being dumped by breweries.

[8] Following a competition to name the new spread with a prize pool of £A50 (equivalent to $4,449 in 2022), "Vegemite" was selected by Fred Walker's daughter Sheilah,[9] and it was registered as a trademark in Australia in 1919; the name of the person who coined the name is not known.

[13] Sales responded and in 1939 Vegemite was officially endorsed by the British Medical Association as a rich source of B vitamins.

Virtually unchanged from Callister's original recipe, Vegemite now far outsells Marmite and other similar spreads in Australia.

[16][17][18][19][20] The Vegemite brand was owned by Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods Inc. until 2012)[12] until January 2017, when it was acquired by the Australian Bega Group in a US$460,000,000 agreement for full Australian ownership after Bega would buy most of Mondelez International's Australia and New Zealand grocery and cheese business.

[29][30][31] Limited quantities of kosher Vegemite were first produced in the 1980s;[32] a 2004 decision to cease certification was reversed after a backlash from Jewish consumers.

[38] Originally promoted as a healthy food for children, during World War II advertising emphasised its medicinal value: Vegemite fights with the men up north!

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.

The formula combines Vegemite and Kraft cream cheese, spreads more easily and has a considerably less salty and milder taste than the original.

Immediate reaction and media reports regarding the new formula were largely positive, but Kraft Foods Australia discontinued the "My First Vegemite" product line in 2012 due to poor sales performance.

[66][67][68] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration later stated that there were no plans to subject Vegemite to an import ban, or withdraw it from supermarket shelves.

[71] Following newspaper reports in May 2011 that Vegemite and Marmite had been banned and were being removed from shelves in Denmark, outraged fans set up several Facebook groups.

In 2004, Denmark had passed legislation prohibiting the sale of food products fortified with vitamins as a danger to health.

[76] The Australian rock band Men at Work refer to a "Vegemite sandwich" in the second verse of their 1981 hit song "Down Under", from their debut studio album Business as Usual.

[77] Australian band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have a song called "Vegemite" on their 2014 album Oddments.