Love it or hate it, there is no stopping Vegemite. As the savoury spread turns 100 it boldly conquers another culinary frontier: frozen family pizzas.
McCain is the latest food company to enter into a joint venture with the iconic Australian brand – owned by local cheese company Bega since 2017 – launching frozen mini pizzas and pizza pockets aimed at kids in the after-school snack zone.
Its creators have labelled the McCain Lil’ Pizzas and Pizza Pockets a “savoury paradise” combining “two of Australia’s most iconic food brands”.
Charlie, 14, Sophie, 12, and Lucy, 6, eating a new McCain vegemite pizza.Credit: Scott McNaughton
Whatever. But Canadian-owned McCain’s new pizzas join a long list of adventurous Vegemite variants. Domino’s and Pizza Hut have sold a limited-edition Vegemite with cheese pizza. They joined other limited-edition variants: Vegemite Tim Tams, Boost Juice, Arnott’s Shapes, Village Popcorn, Smith’s Chips, Four’n Twenty Vegemite Beef & Cheese Pies and Cadbury chocolate. Meanwhile, Coles sells Vegemite hot roast chicken and hot cross buns.
Not to mention any number of make-it-at-home Vegemite “Mitey Meals” recipes including bolognese, nachos, a “Barty Parmy” for the tennis and chicken dumplings for Chinese Lunar New Year. And for the really adventurous, Vegemite waffles and icy poles.
Growing up in Sydney’s inner west in an Australian-Vietnamese household, Khanh Nguyen didn’t see Vegemite in the cupboard that often. But his culinary trajectory changed when one of his kindergarten teachers made him a Vegemite sandwich.
“I was kind of mind blown. It was something so tasty coming from school.”
But a lack of butter meant that it was years before Nguyen was able to replicate the deliciousness on his own toast. Now the executive chef of Melbourne restaurants Sunda and Aru has incorporated the spread into his menu.
“One of our signature dishes at Sunda is a buttermilk roti and Vegemite curry,” he said. “The curry is more like a thick creamy dip. Ripping up a roti and smearing Vegemite across it makes it a pretty exciting dish for me.
Chef and co-owner Khanh Nguyen of Sunda restaurant uses Vegemite in his curry and buttermilk roti. Credit: Paul Jeffers
“At the start diners were a bit sceptical. But almost everyone has enjoyed it. It’s unusual, but it’s kind of familiar at the same time.”
Benoit Collard, the chief executive of Piper-Heidsieck, lives in France but is visiting Melbourne for the Australian Open, where the champagne house is the official supplier.
He incorporates Vegemite into his traditional French vinaigrette and serves it with a beetroot salad.
“It brings the dish to life. It brings a length of flavour,” he said. “It brings a kind of earthiness and delicacy to it.”
The yeast spread was created in Melbourne in October 1923 when chemist C.P. Callister was asked to create a spread similar to British Marmite. And it is still made at its Port Melbourne factory at 1 Vegemite Way, where the smell of the spread was recommended for heritage protection.
In 1930, sales grew after manufacturer Walker got the rights to co-market Vegemite with US Kraft cheese. Kraft bought the brand in 1935 before Bega bought it back four years ago.
Last week junior members of the Napolitano family – Charlie, 14, Sophie, 12, and Lucy, 6 – sampled the McCain pizzas, which sell in IGA supermarkets and will launch in Woolworths and Coles next month.
Lucy, 6, who had already had Vegemite on her toast that morning, declared it was “really yummy”. “I want to eat thousands.”
Sophie, 12, who enjoyed the combination of cheese, tomato and vegemite, thought it was a good snack. “I’ll have to tell mum.”
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