• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

LIVE from the Camino Our Vegemite only lasted 1400km

kindergood

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances (2016)
Any Australians travelling to SJPDP on 4th-5th August please bring a tube of Vegemite! Ours has all gone - it only lasted 1400km! Here is how to recognise me...
Thanks!
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
You're not using enough! Mine only lasted 800km.
We save it for special occasions like not seeing a shop or restaurant for two days! The Camino is not so well serviced in France as it is in Spain.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Well: I'm neither English or Australian, therefore not using the stuff myself. So I don't know if I can be of any help, but I'll give it a try.

Originally from England, Marmite seems to resemble your Vegemite. They are similar products, containing similar ingredients.

1564638449641.png

Someone from Holland, who was used to consuming Marmite, came accross Vegemite when visiting Australia. Both products being available in Holland, he decided to compare the both. As you can tell from their composition, they are indeed similar products, like the German 'Vitamin-R' and the Swiss 'Cenovis', all being yeast-products.

OK, so the Dutch guy compared Vegemite and Marmite using a cracker, Marmite/Vegemite and young Dutch cheese. He found that Vegemite is darker than Marmite. Might be a result of the colouring Vegemite contains, whereas Marmite uses no additional colouring? Also Vegemite is a bit more solid and Marmite a bit more like paste. In terms of taste he found that they are very similar, having only minor differences in taste. He thought Marmite to be a little saltier than Vegemite and that Marmite is a bit 'stronger'. In the end, although being a close call, he preferred Vegemite. His judgement however could be obscured by the fact that Marmite to him tasted more like everday life and Vegemite reminded him of that glorious holiday.

Maybe, running out of Vegemite, you could try Marmite as a kind of sorry excuse for what you're used to.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
800km without Vegemite! Shudder!!
Actually, now that I think about it, it was Marmite I saw there. Might make you really shudder! At least it would be the British variety and not from over the ditch (where, incidentally, we add sugar as well). FTR, I prefer Vegemite;-)
 
The glass containers are too heavy to carry :-( but thanks for the suggestion. We can get travel tubes of Vegemite at the supermarket in Aus.

You obviously haven't been through the war ... (neither have I). You refill the tubes, like they did with toothpaste, and if that isn't possible, you find yourself a nice plastic container, or even a small plastic bottle.

animated-smileys-cheeky-096.gif
 
Every Aussie I know (including myself) vouches for the fact that Vegemite is NOT the same as Marmite, but likewise every Kiwi I know including my NZ in laws will say the opposite! Most people from other nationalities will vouch for the fact that Vegemite is very definitively an acquired taste, and one that most of these people never manage to acquire!
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Well: I'm neither English or Australian, therefore not using the stuff myself. So I don't know if I can be of any help, but I'll give it a try.

Originally from England, Marmite seems to resemble your Vegemite. They are similar products, containing similar ingredients.

View attachment 61926

Someone from Holland, who was used to consuming Marmite, came accross Vegemite when visiting Australia. Both products being available in Holland, he decided to compare the both. As you can tell from their composition, they are indeed similar products, like the German 'Vitamin-R' and the Swiss 'Cenovis', all being yeast-products.

OK, so the Dutch guy compared Vegemite and Marmite using a cracker, Marmite/Vegemite and young Dutch cheese. He found that Vegemite is darker than Marmite. Might be a result of the colouring Vegemite contains, whereas Marmite uses no additional colouring? Also Vegemite is a bit more solid and Marmite a bit more like paste. In terms of taste he found that they are very similar, having only minor differences in taste. He thought Marmite to be a little saltier than Vegemite and that Marmite is a bit 'stronger'. In the end, although being a close call, he preferred Vegemite. His judgement however could be obscured by the fact that Marmite to him tasted more like everday life and Vegemite reminded him of that glorious holiday.

Maybe, running out of Vegemite, you could try Marmite as a kind of sorry excuse for what you're used to.
Well: I'm neither English or Australian, therefore not using the stuff myself. So I don't know if I can be of any help, but I'll give it a try.

Originally from England, Marmite seems to resemble your Vegemite. They are similar products, containing similar ingredients.

View attachment 61926

Someone from Holland, who was used to consuming Marmite, came accross Vegemite when visiting Australia. Both products being available in Holland, he decided to compare the both. As you can tell from their composition, they are indeed similar products, like the German 'Vitamin-R' and the Swiss 'Cenovis', all being yeast-products.

OK, so the Dutch guy compared Vegemite and Marmite using a cracker, Marmite/Vegemite and young Dutch cheese. He found that Vegemite is darker than Marmite. Might be a result of the colouring Vegemite contains, whereas Marmite uses no additional colouring? Also Vegemite is a bit more solid and Marmite a bit more like paste. In terms of taste he found that they are very similar, having only minor differences in taste. He thought Marmite to be a little saltier than Vegemite and that Marmite is a bit 'stronger'. In the end, although being a close call, he preferred Vegemite. His judgement however could be obscured by the fact that Marmite to him tasted more like everday life and Vegemite reminded him of that glorious holiday.

Maybe, running out of Vegemite, you could try Marmite as a kind of sorry excuse for what you're used to.

Thanks André, the Vegemite vs Marmite debate is as old as the hills! 😉
The Marmite we get in Aus is not the same as that in the UK and (tongue in cheek) it’s a bit taboo to say you like it over Vegemite :)
Don’t tell anyone but I’ll eat both quite happily.
 
You obviously haven't been through the war ... (neither have I). You refill the tubes, like they did with toothpaste, and if that isn't possible, you find yourself a nice plastic container, or even a small plastic bottle.

animated-smileys-cheeky-096.gif

I actually suggested this to my wife. You should’ve seen the look on her face. I am prepared to try this even if it takes me all day!
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
For those who have been lucky enough to have never tasted either it's a brown, sticky residue originally scraped from the bottom of a brewer's barrel - think pond scum mixed into vaseline.

Once the British lost their penal colonies in the Americas her convicts were sent to Australia. If they continued to misbehave they were force fed on Vegimite. I have this on good authority from a New Zealand ex-colleague who lived in Sydney for some years before moving to the UK in part to escape the stuff only to discover it was a clone of Marmite which the British Army had been using to waterproof their boots for years.

I went to school near to the Marmite factory in Kennington and, 55 years later, the smell still makes me retch.

No, I'm not a fan.
 
The glass containers are too heavy to carry :-( but thanks for the suggestion. We can get travel tubes of Vegemite at the supermarket in Aus.

Buy in glass and decant it into a gripseal sandwich bag??? Or go into any big supermarket to the English section and buy Marmite? Is our equivalent, Vegemite being merely a pale copy ;)
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
Seriously - running out of vegemite is a Camino ender!

Being vegemiteless ranks on a disaster scale while on the Camino alongside broken legs, stolen backpack, terrible hangovers caused by yummy red wine or being run over by a tractor on the way.

Running out is almost a crime.

You should abandon all your plans and return home to resupply immediately. No question. :p

Meanwhile, its breakfast time here - think I'll have some vegemite on toast. Yum!
 
Hang on, don't you Aussies have the Royal Flying Vegemite Service to get Vegemite to emergency situations in the Outback? Surely you could phone them up??

I mean - what has happened to you Aussies?? Back in the 40's you shipped it to every theatre of war for your troops (so they didn't get homesick I guess ;) ) - when did that stop? There must be a number you can call, surely??

Vegemite-Tin-Sign.jpg
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
The glass containers are too heavy to carry :-( but thanks for the suggestion. We can get travel tubes of Vegemite at the supermarket in Aus.

You can empty jar into plastic container lighter than tube.......
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Hang on, don't you Aussies have the Royal Flying Vegemite Service to get Vegemite to emergency situations in the Outback? Surely you could phone them up??

I mean - what has happened to you Aussies?? Back in the 40's you shipped it to every theatre of war for your troops (so they didn't get homesick I guess ;) ) - when did that stop? There must be a number you can call, surely??

View attachment 61955
I’ll call the Aussie Consulate and see if they can help 😁
 
When I decided to post a reply comparing Vegemite and Marmite, I wasn't aware of these ancient rivalry between countries and cultures. It seems that I, completely unintended, started a war. Since I started it, I'm also the one that can end it.

And I will, just bear with me.

OK, I'm from Holland. This means I wasn't raised eating either Marmite or Vegemite. So I'm completely neutral on the subject. And I approach it completely objectively I might add. That having said it seems that I'm the right person to calm things down again.

First
From a purely scientific approach: when I look at the composition of both Vegemite and Marmite, the similarities between the products outnumber the differences hugely. Saying otherwise is just pretending.

Second
Whether you're a Vegemite fan or a Marmite fan, it doesn't matter: you're prejudiced against the other product for no other reason than it's just different from what you're used to. It has nothing to do with quality or if it objectively tastes better or not, it's just different and therefore inferior.

Third
There's something to be said in favor of both Marmite and Vegemite:
@English & Kiwi's: you're right. Marmite is the original and Vegemite just a inferior copy.
@Aussies: between us, we know that the English & Kiwi's like to dream. True, Vegemite is not the original. It's just the perfected product.

Fourth, and most important!!!
I decided to take matters in my own hand and, with an open mind to both products, compared them myself. This was done just last night, so my findings represent the latest insights on the subject. I do have to apoligize to the Germans and the Swiss: your local variants of this product weren't included in this test, due to lack of availability in Holland.

Final test
So, if you guys are ready to face the truth: here is the final 'verdict' about both Vegemite and Marmite (the results are not open to discussion). A little warning in advance: my findings are in accordance with those of Jeff Crawley, although his approach was not as scientific as mine. OK, here we go.

1
Vegemite proved to be very suitable for filling cracks in the wall, whereas Marmite just kept pouring out of the cracks. Furthermore, Vegemite proved to be paintable (downside: more than one layer is required if you prefer a lighter colour).

2
Marmite on the other hand is a perfect lubricant. I used it both in my car and the lawn mower and both are functioning very well again, like brand new! I used Vegemite on the lawn mower of my neighbor and we are still negiotiating about a financial settlement of the damage.

3
According to my wife, Vegemite is perfect for waxing the legs (or other body parts containing unwanted amounts of hair). After allowing it to dry a bit, it removed all hair in one pull, while being less painful than the more expensive products you can buy in a drugstore. But it looses against Marmite when it comes to it's usage as a nailpolish: Marmite proved to be easier to apply and to last longer (with Vegemite starting to crack easily).

Verdict*
So, what can be concluded from the above? It seems pretty obvious, but I'll sum it up for you. Both products seem to have both advantages and disadvantages. Each of them performing very well in their own way. Where in one field one product fails and the other one excels, in another field it's the other way round.

But, what I can undoubtedly conclude is that both Vegematie and Marmite perform very well when applied in the right way and where both can be used in various ways, they seem to be totally unfit for human consumption. They are apparantly not designed for that: they smell terribly, taste like something my dog finds in the bushes, they prove to be very good laxents (I spent most of the night on the toilet), after using both products my wife refused to kiss for a number of hours).

In retrospective: Jeff Crawley has said it all in his reply (which can be found above somewhere).

* The conclusions as presented above are not meant to be offensive in any way.

😜
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
Any Australians travelling to SJPDP on 4th-5th August please bring a tube of Vegemite! Ours has all gone - it only lasted 1400km! Here is how to recognise me...
Thanks!
If you're really lucky you might be able to pick-up some Marmite along the Way. I'll look out for you both, you can have some of my Marmite, I'll share.
Buen Camino
Keith
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
When my friend's Austrian (not Austria-lian), girlfriend found a jar of Marmite in his kitchen cupboard, she asked him what it was? He told her it was like Nutela (the chocolate-hazelnut spread). She spread it on her toast accordingly. They were not long together.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Any Australians travelling to SJPDP on 4th-5th August please bring a tube of Vegemite! Ours has all gone - it only lasted 1400km! Here is how to recognise me...
Thanks!
I'm bringing you some Marmite
 
Any Australians travelling to SJPDP on 4th-5th August please bring a tube of Vegemite! Ours has all gone - it only lasted 1400km!

You should be taking the empty tube back to where you bought to from - everyone knows that Vegemite is built to last for ever (40% dry weight salt, I gather)....

But then everyone also knows that it should not be eaten - perhaps that is the problem of its short tube-life?
 
Last edited:
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Just sprinkle some (or a lot) salt onto your toast. As a former vegemite and marmite eater as a child, I can say it is possible to kick the habit. Haven’t tried either for years...
 
What an interesting turn of events since I last looked at this post. @André Walker, I admire your courage in entering into any matter of difference between Aussies and Kiwis anywhere and anytime. There are probably some things about our attitudes to each other that might help you understand why your post is both courageous and futile.

It seems that I, completely unintended, started a war. Since I started it, I'm also the one that can end it.

Lets first dispense with the notion that you started a war. We are always at war, its just that the battlefields change from moment to moment. Which of us is best at cricket, rugby, basketball, netball, or who produces the best foods and wines, which country's musicians or actors have higher standings on the world stage, etc, etc, etc are all legitimate subjects for us offer the most virulent and damning assessments of the objectivity and sanity of our cross Tasman compatriots.

You also suggest you are capable of ending this. Now you might take hope were you to see a slogan like 'I support the All Blacks ... and anyone playing the Wallabies' our respective rugby teams, that we could be reasoned with. But that would be very foolish. We reserve a special opprobrium for anyone, like you in this instance, who wants to step in and settle matters by offering what might seem to be independent and objective advice. We generally have not intention of settling these disputes amicably, and anyone who tries to do so will now represent a common enemy. They will be subject to our combined efforts to defeat, not to settle our dispute, but so we can get on with it uninterrupted by interfering bystanders.

Now there are many veteran members from other countries who well understand this unique relationship shared by Kiwis and Aussies, and will seek to exploit it for their own nefarious purposes. And of course they get some short term fun from stoking the fires of this rivalry. But most also seem to know when they have milked the humour out of the situation and it is time to sit back and see where their mischief leads.

@kindergood, I am sorry to hear about your dilemma. I have always started my longer pilgrimage walks with two tubes of Vegemite so I don't have to even think about rationing my consumption.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I have always started my longer pilgrimage walks with two tubes of Vegemite so I don't have to even think about rationing my consumption.

I think your next move should be to arrange regular daily deliveries en route - maybe through Jacotrans or Correos. Seems like there could be a market for it...

vegemite.jpg
 
I dare not enter into a dispute to which there is no resolution...being a matter off taste.

Nor will I speculate though long have I pondered, considering the devotion expressed here, but...

Why did I find a half-tube of one of the yeasty variants laying a meter off the side of the dumpster at Cruz de Ferro in October 2014? (Yes, I binned it...avoiding excess weight, you see, and no one was willing to claim it.)

B
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
That's either the trans-Tasman debate rumbling on, or the hapless reactions of innocents (usually Americans) who think they should spread any of these on their toast like peanut butter. ;)

Hahaha! Well, I like to think I have a balanced perspective on the matter having grown up with UK Marmite then moved to NZ and become acclimatized, so to speak... (Didn't know "our" version had all that sugar though - darn it!)

Wait - did someone mention (cue Jaws theme) Bovril....?!
 
While I am happy to eat both (being Australian and spending time in the UK), I also grew up eating, wait for it... Promite.

Blame my mum.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Any Australians travelling to SJPDP on 4th-5th August please bring a tube of Vegemite! Ours has all gone - it only lasted 1400km! Here is how to recognise me...
Thanks!
Why not live dangerously and try the English equivalent Marmite. You should be able to pick this up from an Ex Pat shop in a major Spanish or French town like Pau.

But be warned it is a stronger taste than your rather weak Vegemite. It is also banned in its original form in New Zealand because of it s doping effect on the All Blacks.
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
Hahaha! Well, I like to think I have a balanced perspective on the matter having grown up with UK Marmite then moved to NZ and become acclimatized, so to speak... (Didn't know "our" version had all that sugar though - darn it!)

Wait - did someone mention (cue Jaws theme) Bovril....?!

Hillwalking in Ireland in cold weather - the thermos contains Bovril in preference to milky tea (probably need a separate thread to discuss tea...)
 
You will have to explain that Bovril is beef Tea. So some of the newer generation of quinoa and lentil eating Australians would not be able to appreciate it. Unlike the older generation of Aussie explorers of the Northern hemisphere who carried large quantities of pies that were dual use for both consumption and stoning English cricket fans or possibly even annoying crows.
 
Originally from England, Marmite seems to resemble your Vegemite. They are similar products, containing similar ingredients.

As you can tell from their composition, they are indeed similar products, like the German 'Vitamin-R' and the Swiss 'Cenovis', all being yeast-products.

Have heard the story (although I cannot vouch for its accuracy) that Marmite was first on the market. When Kraft was developing Vegemite as a competing product, they looked at a number of names for the new line.

One of the names that they considered was Parwill, with an eye to the advertising line of "If Marmite, then Parwill!"
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Have heard the story (although I cannot vouch for its accuracy) that Marmite was first on the market. When Kraft was developing Vegemite as a competing product, they looked at a number of names for the new line.

One of the names that they considered was Parwill, with an eye to the advertising line of "If Marmite, then Parwill!"
Some fact checking needed here!! The statement that Marmite was first on the market of the two products is correct. Vegemite appears to have been developed as a response to the disruption of British Marmite supply from the UK after WWI. Time to market might be seen as being pretty long in today's terms, with development commencing in 1919 and sales commencing in 1923.

The name Parwill did not emerge until much later, after the import of Marmite resumed. It was a failure, and the name Vegemite returned.

Vegemite was developed for the company Fred Walker & Co, founded in 1908, which operated as a separate business to the Kraft Walker Cheese Co, founded in 1925 to manufacture processed cheese. Sources differ on when Fred Walker & Co was purchased by the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. Some suggest as early as 1930 but it might not have been until after Fred Walker's death in 1935. Suffice to say that Kraft did not develop Vegemite, even though it was a brand in the Kraft Foods (and later Mondelez International) stable for decades.

The Vegemite brand is now owned by Bega Cheese following their acquisition of the Mondelez AS & NZ businesses in early 2017.
 
Last edited:
Some fact checking needed here!! The statement that Marmite was first on the market of the two products is correct. Vegemite appears to have been developed as a response to the disruption of Marmite supply from the UK in WWI.

The name Parwill did not emerge until much later, when the import of Marmite resumed. It was a failure, and the name Vegemite returned.

Vegemite was developed by a

Hey - lets not let facts get in the way of a good story....

However https://vegemite.com.au/heritage/ does give some authority to the report of the proposed advertising line of "If Marmite, then Parwill..."
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
I’m a bit late to this conversation...
There will only ever be one Vegemite, the rest are just imitations IMHO.
We had a lot of fun introducing our many exchange students to it. Most had no idea what we were forcing on them. Some loved it and took it home with them and others detested it.

A recipe tip for all you non believers.
Toast with butter and a SMEAR of vegemite. Top this with avocado, smashed or sliced and maybe salt and pepper to taste.
🥑🍞🥑🍞🥑🍞🥑
There is nothing better, but very unlikely to find it on any Camino.
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-

Most read last week in this forum

Could I ask what may be naive question. This will be my 1st Camino and I will be mostly staying in alberques. Could you please explain the bathroom/shower etiquette to me? I have no idea what...
Do i need both these apps? I want to spend as little time my device as possible so if one app will do fine that’s my preference.
I was planning to document my journey through my blog (or Vlog, as I would probably take lots of videos). I was thinking of using my iPhone, and I ordered a foldable keyboard to facilitate typing...
I did the Norte in 2017. This set off a wild ride of changes in life - shifting many things. I am now at a new plateau and it feels like the right time to do Camino #2, this time the...
Hi to all, I'm looking for a really, really good place (an artist) to get a Tattoo in Santiago, it could be before Santiago but I presume in Santiago I will be ready to have my first one. The...
My daughter and I will be on the Portuguese on June and July starting in Lisbon. We will arrive in Porto about the 27th of June. We want to stay for three nights. Can we stay in an albergue for...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Similar threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top