This year is the centenary of Vegemite. The classic Australian spread first hit the shelves of local grocery stores in 1923. Vegemite is both a national institution and a registered brand name, invented by food technologist Dr Cyril P. Calister in 1922 for the original manufacturer Fred Walker – who ran a competition to find a name for this ‘vegetable extract’ and Vegemite was the winning entry. However, to compete with an existing British product called ‘Marmite’ it was relaunched in 1928 as ‘Parwill’. It was a joke, you see: if Ma might, then Pa will! (Not a very good joke, I grant you.) The re-launch fell flat and Vegemite went back to being Vegemite – as it has been ever since. The spread has entered our language in at least two expressions ‘happy little Vegemites’ (from a 1954 advertising campaign); and ‘Vegemite moment’ – that moment that you either love or loathe (there’s no in between with Vegemite!)