 Vegemite Timeline |
1922Australia was an exciting place to be in 1922. Employment was at an all time high, the national mood was optimistic and new ideas were being explored in many areas even food processing. When a young chemist named Dr Cyril P Callister at the Fred Walker Cheese Company developed a remarkable new spread from brewer's yeast, an Aussie icon was born. The result was a nutritious spread with an appealing taste that is also one of the world's richest known sources of Vitamin B. It came in a two ounce (57g) amber glass jar capped with what was known as a Phoenix seal, to keep the contents fresh. But what to name it? |
1923In an imaginative approach, Fred Walker Cheese Company ran a competition inviting the public to dream up a name for its new spread. A prize of fifty pounds for finalists -a princely sum in those days - guaranteed mountains of entries and from the pile a name was pulled: Vegemite. History has not recorded the name of the winning contestant. Vegemite first graced grocers' shelves in 1923 and was described as "delicious on sandwiches and toast. Improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies". |  Vegemite 1923 |
| Improves the flavour of soups, stews and gravies". But its appealing flavour and nutritional qualities did not immediately catch on with Australians, and initial sales were slow |
1926Around this time of flappers, zoot suits and "23-skidoo" the company became known as the Kraft Walker Cheese Company and produced a limited edition porcelain Vegemite jar, a jar that's since gone on to become quite a collector's item! |
1928In 1928 it was decided that perhaps a name change would revive Vegemite's sluggish sales. In an attempt to emulate the success of the English spread Marmite, Vegemite was renamed "Parwill". However Parwill was only ever sold in Queensland and Walker’s creative play-on-words fell on deaf ears and Parwill failed. Walker went back to the drawing board, and finally realised that the Vegemite brand could work. |  Vegemite 1928 |
