Marmite production is expected to restart at the end of this month, with jars of the spread returning to shop shelves in the first few weeks of November.
Marmite has been in short supply since Sanitarium's main plant was shut down by the Canterbury earthquakes.
General manager Pierre van Heerden said reconstruction efforts were making progress. "We have achieved a huge phase of work. Extensive strengthening to floors and the construction of interior and exterior walls to meet earthquake building codes has almost been completed."
But the challenge of re-commissioning the production line was still ahead. "We know the waiting is tough and we are again asking our Marmite consumers for their understanding and support," van Heerden said. "We have not set a back-on-shelf date yet as we anticipate we will have some production hurdles to overcome. As soon as we know when that will be, we will let everyone know."
Although NZ Marmite has been off the shelves for months, 2000 jars of British Marmite are under lock and key, and a battle over their release is set to go to the High Court.
