KEY POINTS:
The one billionth jar of Vegemite has gone down the production line, proving that Australians really do enjoy it for breakfast, lunch and tea.
Since hitting Australian shelves in the 1920s, the salty yeast spread has been popular not only on sandwiches, toast and biscuits, but also in
soups and casseroles.
Among the people who gathered at Kraft's manufacturing plant in Port Melbourne to mark the occasion of the one billionth jar were two of the girls from the original Happy Little Vegemites television commercial.
When it first went to air in 1959, Margaret Hole and Trisha Cavanagh were just school-aged children.
Nearly 50 years on, they still have fond memories of their first television advertisement.
"It was ... very exciting for us as kids in the school holidays to be making an ad," said Ms Cavanagh.
"Who would have thought that ad would still be popular today?"
Rodney Alsop, who is the grandson of Kraft Walker Cheese Company Australia founder, Fred Walker, said it was "amazing" that a billion jars had been produced.
"Australians really love their Vegemite. Around the world they may not be so keen on it, but it is one of those things which is an Australian icon."
Christina Siciliano, who worked at Kraft for 31 years as a librarian, has studied the history of Vegemite closely.
"It's part of the Australian ethos, the spirit of Australia, and that's what makes it special."
Victorian Premier John Brumby said he woke up on Sunday morning to a slice of toast with honey, and another with Vegemite.
"What began as a breakfast spread has become an international icon," Mr Brumby said.
"It's a great Victorian and Australian success story."
According to Kraft, Australians spread about 1.2 billion serves of Vegemite on toast, bread or biscuits every year.
A Vegemite jar, containing 22 and 18 carat gold, has been created to commemorate the event and will go on tour throughout Australia.
A MIGHTY SPREAD
* Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract made from a by-product of the beer brewing process.
* An estimated nine out of ten Australian pantries contain at least one jar of Vegemite and 46 per cent of Australians eat Vegemite at least once during a calendar week.
* The salty spread was invented by Dr. Cyril P. Callister, a chemist and food technologist who worked for the Australian company Fred Walker & Co. He was given the task of developing a spread from brewers' yeast following the disruption of British Marmite imports after World War I.
* Since 1935 Vegemite has been manufactured by Kraft Foods, a US multinational.
* The name Vegemite was selected out of a hat by Fred Walker's daughter, Sheilah, following a national competition to find a name for the product.
* Between 1928 and 1935 the spread was known as Parwill to try and combat increasing competition from New Zealand-produced Marmite. The convoluted advertising slogan for the spread during this period was: "Marmite but Parwill."
Eg. "Ma [mother] might like the taste but Pa [father] will."
* The advertising for Vegemite which began in the 1950s has become one of Australia's best-known jingles:
"We're happy little Vegemites
as bright as bright can be.
We all enjoy our Vegemite
for breakfast, lunch and tea..."
* In 2006, Melbourne's Herald Sun incorrectly reported that Vegemite had been banned in the United States, and that the United States Customs Service had gone so far as to search Australians entering the country for Vegemite. The story led to some anti-American comments in blogs and newspapers.
* Vegemite is rich in B vitamins and was endorsed by the British Medical Association in 1939.
* There have been a number of references to Vegemite in music, the most well-known of which is the Vegemite sandwich in Men At Work's 1982 hit song Down Under:
"I said, 'Do you speak-a my language?'
He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich."
Australian Vegemite ad (1960s)
