VEGEMITE celebrates its rich history as Australia’s most loved spread by giving back to the community and asking Australians to share the celebrations by enjoying a nutritious VEGEMITE breakfast.
Friday October 25 is VEGEMITE’s 90th birthday – that’s 90 years of giving Australians energy to do more of what they love, 90 years being at the heart of the Australian breakfast occasion, and 90 years as a symbol of national pride. Australians love their VEGEMITE, it’s part of who we are and what makes us unique – just like surfing, barbeques and beach cricket.
As Australia’s most loved spread celebrates its 90th birthday, all Australians are being called on to continue the great Aussie tradition by making an inspiring breakfast and starting the day with VEGEMITE as part of a large-scale digital campaign. Australians can get involved to be part of the celebrations online and help VEGEMITE give back to the community by visiting the VEGEMITE Facebook page.
For every ‘like’ received during the month of October on the VEGEMITE Facebook page, VEGEMITE together with its suppliers will donate a jar of VEGEMITE to Foodbank (up to 90,000 jars) to help ensure less fortunate Australians can also start their day the right way with a nutritious and delicious VEGEMITE breakfast. The donation is part of VEGEMITE’s ongoing partnership with Foodbank, Australia’s largest food relief agency, designed to give thousands of disadvantaged families the opportunity to start their day with VEGEMITE.
Millions of Australians across the country and the world are expected to START WITH VEGEMITE on October 25 and share the love with Australia’s favourite spread by joining in the conversation using #Vegemite90 to celebrate the birthday across social media platforms.
VEGEMITE has been enjoyed in a variety of ways over the years and how we like our VEGEMITE is still a very personal choice. In the early days, VEGEMITE was reported to have been eaten on toast or crackers, used as flavouring in soups, stews and gravies, drunk in a cup of hot water to help with the release of energy and even prescribed by doctors to be taken by patients as a rich source of B Vitamins. Today, we still love our VEGEMITE on toast but our tastes have changed somewhat – the rise of the café lifestyle and our hectic/health-conscious daily routines mean we now enjoy VEGEMITE in a variety of fresh and inspiring new ways such as on sourdough toast with poached eggs or avocado. But one thing hasn’t changed since 1923, Australians still rely on VEGEMITE for a nutritious start to the day.
For the last 90 years, VEGEMITE has been produced right here in Australia and remains committed to local manufacturing and securing Australian jobs for the future.
VEGEMITE has a long and proud history of supporting local suppliers – over 90% of the ingredients that go into Vegemite are sourced within Australia. This includes brewer’s yeast – a key ingredient in the VEGEMITE recipe. Most of the leftover yeast from beer brewed in Victoria is used to make VEGEMITE – we work with suppliers to ensure nothing is wasted.
Over VEGEMITE’s 90 year history, hundreds of dedicated Australians have had a direct hand in creating almost 1.1 billion jars of VEGEMITE. Almost 22 million jars of VEGEMITE are made every year at the Port Melbourne factory in Victoria, creating almost 90 billion serves, and employing hundreds of Australians who combined, have over 1,800 years of experience.
