“Australians all let us rejoice… for Vegemite is back!”
Good news everyone! A major part of Australia’s staple diet, Vegemite, will be Australian – owned and produced again!
Sky News Australia reports that the iconic staple of the Aussie diet will be bought by cheese company, Bega Cheese. It’s said that deal will cost $460 million. Bega will also have right to the Kraft brand for other products, including their widely popular, peanut butter.
The decision has delighted Australian entrepreneur, Dick Smith, who’s been a strong advocate for buying Australian – made and grown products. In 2014, he slammed Australians for buying “cheap” foreign imports instead. I get why. So many jobs in manufacturing are either eliminated, or at least on its knees in the Western world, partly because scores of people wanting the cheapest they can possibly get. Recently, this mentality has been scrutinised after companies like Apple had been exposed for using cheap labour from impoverished parts of the world. Too often their working conditions would be condemned if they occurred in places like Australia or the U.S.
Kraft came under fire in 2014 when they changed the recipe and added wheat malt. This infuriated Vegemite lovers across the country. It sparked a a petition, and although that gained very little traction, Kraft did go back to the original recipe. So they should’ve. Why change something that has nothing wrong?
Vegemite has been a staple in Australia for many years and has been a staple in the Australian diet since its launch in 1923 after being created by Dr. Cyril P. Callister in 1922. To get a name for the product, he asked Fred Walker to name it. Walker ran a competition for the public to come up with the name. Fifty (Australian) pounds was the prize. Walker’s own daughter won the prize after picking the name, Vegemite. For more information on the history of Vegemite, go here.
If it wasn’t for Vegemite, I probably wouldn’t eat as a kid, ha ha! It was such a staple in our house. I used to have it on toast and on sandwiches all the time. I like it thick! Probably a lot thicker than what other people do. If you could taste the butter or margarine, (especially butter), than it wasn’t thick enough. I’m more moderate now. I still have it reasonably thick, but too much can be too strong. But if you have so little that you can barely taste it, then it’s not worth it. I still have it on toast in the mornings. On sandwiches, not so much anymore, but I did have it a few days ago. It was nice. And it was reasonably thick!
Now, to a debate featured on Paul Murray Live last night, can you have Vegemite with cheese? Sliced cheese, yes. Tasty, not so much. That’s a bit too strong. For years, I always thought that they (Vegemite and sliced cheese) went together beautifully. Probably not the best combination when you are watching your weight though. Vegemite is just fine by itself, with a little bit of butter or margarine. The Vegemite still needs to be able to be tasted or what’s the point? And sometimes with sliced cheese.
Now, when we buy Vegemite and have it on our toast, sandwiches, Saladas, etc, we can rest assured that we are buying an Australia – made product and supporting Australian jobs. We can also be assured that the workers’ conditions are satisfactory – a standard that we expect of any workers.
Now, let us all rejoice!
Do you like Vegemite? How? Thick? Thin? What do you like it on?
Leave your thoughts in the comments.