Editorial: Good news to spread

It's amazing how long a jar of something lasts when you don't really have a choice but to make it last.

Yes, I'm talking about Marmite, which will be back on supermarket shelves on Wednesday. I will be heading to the supermarket then to stock up as pretty much all that is left in my small Marmite jar are the dregs which I'm still managing to scrape out.

I have looked after that Marmite jar. It's gone with me to work every day and has been used most days for my lunch accompanied with a boiled egg on toast. Yes, people think I'm unusual for such a combination but each to their own, as they say.

Stocks of Marmite ran dry early last year after Sanitarium's Christchurch plant was forced to shut down in November 2011 because of earthquake-related concerns. Marmite was initially expected to return to shelves last July, but that date was pushed back several times. When Sanitarium announced on Campbell Live a month ago amid much unnecessary fanfare that Marmite would be back on the shelves on March 20 I admit I was delighted.

I had followed the instructions of Sanitarium bosses to ration the use of Marmite to once a day - in fact I only ate it, at the most, four times a week.

The Marmite shortage led to fears of Marmageddon which I thought was ridiculous. Stories about this went across the world. People overseas must have thought us Kiwis were a bit sad.

As much as I love Marmite and perhaps I may have been at a bit of a loss if my little jar had run out, there are many other things to spread on my toast - not Vegemite though.

There is a difference between the two. My other half likes Vegemite and has a thick layer of it on his toast. I prefer more butter and just a small scraping of Marmite on my toast - Marmageddon or not.

Whatever spread you fancy, it is good to hear that a New Zealand staple will be back in just a few days.