Vegemite with chocolate? It's no smear campaign

Confectionery-maker Cadbury said Friday it has created a new taste sensation by combining its well-loved milk chocolate with an unusual flavour -- Australia's famous, sharply-savoury spread Vegemite.

Cadbury Australia said the new product was "surprisingly delicious" and one of four new flavour combinations to hit the shelves in coming weeks -- along with pretzel and peanut, salted caramel, and golden toffee.

The company said it believed the new flavour which combines chocolate and smooth flowing caramel with Vegemite, a paste based on yeast extract, would give Australians "something new and unexpected".

"We're sure it will stimulate Australians' flavour curiosity so we encourage everyone to give the block a try while they can," it said in a statement on the products, which will be only be available for a limited time.

Confirmation of rumours about the Vegemite chocolate sparked a mixed response on Twitter, with some excitedly asking "Why has it taken so long?".

"If this trend continues, I'm looking forward to next month's "Old Boot" flavour," quipped another.

Similar to, but more salty and stickier than British cousin Marmite, Vegemite can be found in 70 percent of Australian homes.

The dark spread was invented by chemist Cyril Callister in 1922 when he was ordered to find a use for the used yeast being dumped by breweries.

Whether the idea of Vegemite and chocolate takes off is unknown, but bookmakers said the only thing more Aussie than the spread was a meat pie as they began taking bets on with what it might next be mixed.

Suggestions included Vegemite beer and Vegemite toothpaste.

Cadbury and Kraft, which produces Vegemite, are both owned by United States food giant Mondelez International.
Source: AFP