Vegemite
- Date
- 1922 · confidence high
- Place
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Credited to
- Cyril Callister and Fred Walker & Co.
- People
- 👤 Cyril P. Callister1893–1949
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
A salty yeast-extract paste rich in B vitamins, developed by Cyril Callister from brewery yeast leftovers. It was invented in Melbourne in 1922 as an Australian answer to British Marmite and launched under the name Vegemite in 1923.
The product was first called 'Pure Vegetable Extract' and the Vegemite name was chosen by competition in 1923; it began selling modestly and took off after its use as a ration food in the Second World War.
What it led to
- Australia's emblematic spread
- a source of B vitamins for children's diets
- industrial use of brewer's yeast