The British press has spent six weeks comparing the McCormick-Marmite deal to Mondelez-Cadbury. The comparison is wrong. Here is a proper analysis of what is actually likely to happen to Marmite, the Burton-on-Trent factory, and the 240 jobs that depend on it.
Marmite Articles
Explore our collection of articles about Marmite, Britain's most divisive spread.
An imagined Mnemonicon interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for St George's Day, and Mr Sherlock Holmes investigates an unlabelled jar that arrived at 221B by the second post
Imagined Mnemonicon interview with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus Sherlock Holmes deducing an unlabelled jar that arrived at 221B by the second post. Burton-on-Trent, 1902, medical-man sender.
Why does Marmite taste like that? The science of the savoury hit
Marmite tastes the way it does because it is loaded with natural glutamates (the umami compounds), a lot of salt, and the dark, malty, slightly bitter notes from heating concentrated yeast. The intensity is the point, and it is why it divides people.
What happened to Schwartz: the 42-year case study for what comes next for Marmite
Schwartz is the closest single analogue to Marmite under McCormick. A British heritage food brand, bought by the same American owner, kept its name, its factory and its recipe for forty-two years. Here is what that actually looked like.
Food Unwrapped films inside the Marmite factory and TikTok loses the plot
Channel 4 goes inside the Burton factory and TikTok runs with the slurry-vat footage. The brand handles the moment well.
An imagined Mnemonicon interview with Fyodor Dostoyevsky on Marmite as a moral substance, and a jar set between Ivan and Alyosha Karamazov at the tavern
Imagined Mnemonicon interview with Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Marmite as a moral substance that refuses the middle ground; Ivan offers the bread to Alyosha at the Skotoprigonyevsk tavern.
Five spice acquisitions, one pattern: what McCormick does with European heritage brands
A close look at five McCormick acquisitions of European and Antipodean heritage brands, and what the pattern across them suggests will happen next to Marmite.
Marmite finally admits toast is dying
adam&eveDDB's new campaign quietly admits UK toast consumption is down 62 per cent and repositions Marmite as a cooking ingredient. Mostly successful.
An imagined Mnemonicon interview with John Keats on Marmite, negative capability, an ode for the jar, and a fermented dainty added to Porphyro's feast
Imagined Mnemonicon interview with John Keats. Marmite as Negative Capability made edible; a five-stanza ode in his Nightingale register; a scene with Madeline and Porphyro on St Agnes Eve.
What the McCormick deal means for Burton-on-Trent
What McCormick's vague 'long-term manufacturing agreement' really means for the 240 jobs in Burton, and why the Cadbury precedent should worry us.
