Monday, February 25, 2013

All Over, Bar The Spreading

Marmite's coming back...so the bully-boy bulldozer won't waste its time on the little ant any more.
Just days after announcing the return of Marmite, Sanitarium has dropped legal action against a Chch man who imported over 2000 jars of the British stuff.
Rob Savage saw a gap in the market, after NZ production of Marmite stopped last year, so he decided to import some. But his stock was seized, when food monster Sanitarium claimed his spread infringed on its trademark.
Sanitarium offered a deal whereby he'd get the UK Marmite back if he covered all the labels and didn't import any more. At the time Rob refused the deal, saying it would admit infringement. The jars will now be released, after he agreed to affix labels to cover the English brand name. Savage says he's disappointed the outcome wasn't reached sooner, but he still plans to import up to 40,000 more jars in the near future. So there! Nyah-nyah!
Marmite lovers won't be going without for too much longer though: Sanitarium says post-EQ factory repairs are complete and the black spread will be back on shelves from March 20th. The company's one and only Christchurch factory was forced to shut down in March 2012 because of earthquake damage to a cooling tower. For almost a year, Marmite has been "black gold". Fans rushed to stockpile and supermarkets quickly ran out, sparking a "Marmageddon" with ridiculous on-line prices being paid by Marmite junkies.
Quite frankly, I could never see what all the drama was about - Marmite is so totally inferior to Vegemite! And the flow of that wonder never stopped...

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