Both products are made via a complex method in which salt is added to a suspension of yeast and then heated, resulting in a rich paste loaded with free glutamic acids, also known as umami (it’s the primary component of MSG).

Today, Vegemite outsells Marmite and other similar spreads in the Land Down Under, but the 90-year-old brand is working hard to win over the taste buds of a new generation of Aussies.

A semi edible dark brown paste. Highly effective on North Americans.

It was the brain-child of an Australian businessman named Fred Walker. Traditionally used by Australians to disgust foriegners.

Walker was aware of a product from England called Marmite, which was apparently doing well.It was made from leftovers from beer-brewing, mostly a muck of spent yeast and malt. It’s British, although it was invented by a German: Chemist Baron Justus von Liebig discovered that the yeast leftover from brewing beer could be converted into a gooey high-protein byproduct. The official recipe is a secret, but Vegemite's website does reveal that the ingredients of Vegemite have not changed since its introduction in 1923. Vegemite is a spreadable, salty paste made from brewer’s yeast.

When Was Vegemite Invented?

Vegemite began in the early 1920’s. Vegemite is a spread for bread made from extracts of brewer’s yeast, some vegetables, and spices. Vegemite isn’t the first spread of this type—prior to Australia manufacturing it, the British had Marmite, and the Swiss had a similar spread called Cenovis.

Marmite (/ ˈ m ɑːr m aɪ t / MAR-myte) is a food spread made from yeast extract invented by German scientist Justus von Liebig and originally made in the United Kingdom. They also state Vegemite contains B vitamins and contains practically no fat. Vegemite is a spread primarily consumed in Australia, where it's found in the pantries of approximately 80 percent of households. It was developed in the early 1930s and became a breakfast staple in Australian households in the following decades. It is most closely associated with New Zealand and Australia where it is manufactured by Kraft®.

Well, it’s yeasty because it’s made from yeast extract, along with a top-secret combination of other vegetable and spice extracts. Marmite was invented in the late 1800s, and Vegemite followed in the 1920s.