The History of Marmite

When Marmite was first marketed in 1902 it would be ten years before vitamins were discovered. Fortuitously for the Marmite company their product was found to be rich in vitamin B. This later led to a rise in popularity when vitamin B deficiency became a problem during the First World War.

Many people believe that vitamin B12 helps to deter mosquitos from biting - whether or not this is the case Marmite is a useful food for vegetarians because it is rich in a vitamin the rest of us get from meat.

In recent years, since Marmite was bought by Unilever, there have been special editions of Marmite including one flavoured with Champagne, and another flavoured with Guinness - interesting when you consider the historical GYE product. Until the 1950s, the Guinness Brewery in Dublin marketed jars of Guinness Yeast Extract throughout the Republic of Ireland.

In 1908 a New Zealand company licensed the rights to produce Marmite in that country - introducing their own different recipe in 1919. Their product is rarely seen outside of Australia and New Zealand but can sometimes be found labelled as "Vitamite". British Marmite is now also sold in Australia and New Zealand but renamed as "Our Mate".

Most UK supermarkets sell own-branded yeast extract spreads - and Tesco is known to sell their's in other European countries.