Ahh Vegemite - that sticky black stuff that Australians know and love so well (and Britons love to hate its UK cousin, Marmite) – is getting a modern ‘alteration’.
That’s right, because come July, our Antipodean friends will be able to hot foot it down to the local store, to get their hands on Vegemite’s new, younger and most importantly – creamier little sister. Kraft – those lovely people behind the much loved spread - made the announcement yesterday that it would be the first time the sandwich staple was getting an uplift since its creation in 1922.
“With such a well-loved, iconic brand, we wouldn’t create something using the Vegemite name unless we were absolutely sure Australians would love it,” said Simon Talbot, Kraft’s head of corporate affairs.
The salty, ever so bitter spread made from brewer’s yeast is so quintessentially Australian that it even managed to slip into the lyrics of a 1980s pop song Down Under by Men at Work.
Kraft made the decision to go messing with the spread after carrying out a survey of 300,000 Australians and New Zealanders in order to determine exactly how they eat theirs.
And the result? A new improved version that has been blended with cream cheese to produce a creamier sandwich filling which is a lot easier to spread. It should be a welcome change if the frustration of Marmite sticking to everything is anything to go by.
Mr Talbot added that they are hopeful of a positive response from the punters after 600 homes tested the new spread and were delighted with the makeover.
“It’s a milder version, more suited to dipping celery or carrots, easy to spread,” he said.
In the tradition of the original version which was given its name by a polling public in 1923, the name of the new spread will be decided by the public as jars will be appearing on shop shelves with a label reading “Name Me”. How about creamymite? Anyone? Ok just a suggestion!
