A royal warrant is the little coat of arms in the shop window with the words 'By Appointment'. Marmite earned its own in 2016, lost it when Queen Elizabeth II died, and was quietly dropped from King Charles's list in December 2024. What a warrant actually is, how a business wins and loses one, and why the system has spent nearly two centuries chasing fakes, told from a walk away from Sandringham.
Marmite Articles
Explore our collection of articles about Marmite, Britain's most divisive spread.
Showing articles tagged with: heritage | View all articles
Marmite at 125, with a new American owner in the room
Marmite turns 125 in 2027, just as McCormick takes over. What a serious anniversary year should look like, and what we should probably expect instead.
The British press has the Burton-Marmite story wrong
Since 31 March 2026, when McCormick & Company announced its agreement to combine with Unilever's foods business, the British press has been telling one version of the Marmite-McCormick story. The version goes roughly like this: The Americans have bought our Marmite.
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.
A Marlborough boutique has painted itself in Marmite stripes
Isabella Wookey, who runs Willow & Wolf on the high street in Marlborough, Wiltshire, has painted the front of her shop in broad stripes. The stripes are a slightly pinker brown than the proper Marmite yellow-and-oxblood, but the reference is instant. Walk past it and you think, jar.
Marmite is doing a 50-year retrospective, which is weird because the jar is 123
Marmite has published a 50-year anniversary interview this month, which is the sort of brand-PR exercise that I would normally skim and ignore, except that there is a small problem with the maths. Marmite was first sold in 1902. It is one hundred and twenty-three years old.
Updates from the Monumite unveiling
I have made the trip to Burton to be apart of the unveiling of the 'Monumite', the shrine for al Marmite lovers.
Monumite: The Marmite Shrine
So, I'm about to make the trek to Burton-upon-trent, a place I haven't been to since I was a boy, to be at the unveiling of the Monumite.
Marmite makes it to 100
Unlike the Queen mother, you either love Marmite or you hate it. However, as the Queen mum seems to have pushed through the 100 year barrier with ease, perhaps we should take the time to congratulate Marmite on achieving the same magnificent anniversary.
A short history of Marmite: 1902 to today, in twelve key dates
It begins, as a lot of British food does, with a by-product nobody wanted. In 1902, a small group of investors paid £100 a year to rent a disused malt house in Burton-on-Trent and started a company called the Marmite Food Company Limited. Burton was the centre of the British brewing industry.
Page 1 of 1
