Marmite

Marmite

A British jar of Marmite
Invented by	Justus von Liebig
Launch year	1902
Company	Marmite Food Extract Company
Current supplier	Unilever

Marmite (/ˈmɑːrmaɪt/ MAR-myt) is the brand name for two similar food spreads: the original British version, a Unilever product since 2000; and a modified version produced in New Zealand by Sanitarium Health Food Company and distributed in Australia and the Pacific. Marmite is made from yeast extract, a by-product of beer brewing. Other similar products include the Australian Vegemite, the Swiss Cenovis and the German Vitam-R.

The British version of the product is a sticky, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty. This distinctive taste is reflected in the British company's marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it." The product's name has entered British English as a metaphor for something that is an acquired taste or tends to polarise opinions.

A version with a different flavour has been manufactured in New Zealand since 1919. This is the only product sold as Marmite in Australasia and the Pacific, whereas elsewhere in the world the British version predominates.

The image on the front of the British jar shows a "marmite" (French: [maʁmit]), a French term for a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot. British Marmite was originally supplied in earthenware pots, but since the 1920s has been sold in glass jars shaped like the French cooking pot.