Marmite

Marmite (/ˈmɑːrmaɪt/ MAR-myte) is a British savoury spread based on yeast extract invented by the Marmite Food Company in 1902. It is made from by-products of beer brewing (lees) and is produced by the British company Unilever. Marmite is a vegan source of B vitamins, including supplementary vitamin B₁₂. It is traditionally eaten spread thinly on buttered toast.

Marmite is a sticky dark-brown paste with a distinctive, salty, powerful flavour and heady aroma. This distinctive taste is represented in the marketing slogan: "Love it or hate it." Such is its prominence in British culture that Marmite is often used as a metaphor for something that is an acquired taste or polarises opinion. Marmite is commonly used as a flavouring, as it is known for its savoury taste due to its high levels of glutamate (1960mg/100g).

The image on the jar shows a marmite (French: [maʁmit]), a French term for a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot. Marmite was originally supplied in earthenware pots but since the 1920s has been sold in glass jars. Marmite's distinctive bulbous jars are supplied by the German glass manufacturer Gerresheimer.

Similar products include the Australian Vegemite (whose name is derived from that of Marmite), the Swiss Cenovis, the Brazilian Cenovit, the long-extinct Argentinian Condibé, the French Viandox, and the German Vitam-R. Marmite in New Zealand has been manufactured since 1919 under licence, but with a different recipe; it is the only one sold as Marmite in Australasia and the Pacific Islands, whereas elsewhere the British version predominates.