The Marmite Strategy

Yes, yes, Marmite has been spread thickly all over the media in the last few days.

There's an interesting subtext to the recent nonsense.

Unilever (producers of Marmite) is an Anglo-Dutch corporation with offices in London and Amsterdam.

If Brexit goes ahead, Unilever will either have to

1) Merge its Dutch and UK offices, closing one set of offices completely, and headquarter in either one of the two countries, meaning huge internal upheaval; or
2) (if the company tries to keep both offices) its own internal affairs will be adversely affected by the redrawn borders between Britain and the continent (different tax rates, different customs duties, different laws, having to get visas for employees of one office to be able to visit the other, etc, etc).

Either of those options will be ruinously expensive and inconvenient (and will impact investor/partner confidence)

So what better tactic to play than to raise the price of an iconic British staple, as the first shot in a purported price-escalation trend that can be blamed on Brexit?

It hits British consumers in the pocket, everyone in the UK knows what Marmite is (it has one of the highest profiles of all products), and it creates anxiety about the potential for huge price hikes in other products. Result: It achieves massive publicity and public opinion starts to reconsider any favourable attitudes toward Brexit.

This might be just conjecture of course.

But it's very interesting to note that Unilever CEO Paul Polman is Bilderberg Conference-goer and is therefore completely pro-globalisation and (inevitably) completely anti-Brexit.

One of Unilever's non-executive directors is former British cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who is also a Bilderberger, who expressed pre-referendum concerns about what Brexit might mean for "movement of labour and capital", and who wrote open letters to readers of British publications explaining why he would be voting to stay in the EU.

Have we just witnessed a corporate psychological operation carried out in accordance with the Bilderberg globalisation agenda?

a reply to: audubon


I like marmite ..... But I can live without it.

Not from the UK and I had no idea what Marmite was until I read about this yesterday. I think one of the flaws in this whole thing is people thinking that corporations will take the hit instead of raising prices on the consumer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what Brexit means economically to some companies will start to effect what people pay for certain items.

a reply to: underwerks

Yes, indeed, and that is the very issue that the Marmite 'controversy' has forced into public awareness.

I've had marmite. I think I would rather eat marmoset. Would you really miss it?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Good god man, it's Marmite! You can literally eat it straight from the pot, I kid you not!

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

It must be me then, I thought it tasted like a sweet version of vegemite which I am not fond of either.

Since the pound dropped 20% this last while because of BREXIT fears, the the imported components for Marmite do actually cost more. Usually that cost is passed on, either some down to the consumer, or all of it directly.
Already the government, or at least the Bank of England are saying we are likely to return to inflationary times.
That's how much of a feck up that BREXIT is.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

It must be me then, I thought it tasted like a sweet version of vegemite which I am not fond of either.

I'll raise you Bovril, the meaty version. Add it to food, soups, sauces, stews....not too much though!

I know you are a culinary person and a mason. I just thought masons would like the darker side of food flavourings...

a reply to: LightSpeedDriver

I'm willing to give that a shot. There's a English sundry shop near me which stocks food items from across the Anglosphere so I'll ask if they carry this.

Just switch up to Vegamite or something.

originally posted by: underwerks
Not from the UK and I had no idea what Marmite was until I read about this yesterday. I think one of the flaws in this whole thing is people thinking that corporations will take the hit instead of raising prices on the consumer. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what Brexit means economically to some companies will start to effect what people pay for certain items.

Yes and very much so, you and audubon are correct, and obviously it's not just Marmite. Foodwise alone we import 60% plus of our food, and it WILL cost more since the supermarkets are all coasting as it is after the bank crisis'.
And it's not just food, Nissan is already putting a hold on their expansion in the UK, and possibly pull out, that means France will likely be a big player there since Nissan is mostly owned by Renault, and while it was likely much cheaper to assemble in the UK, (since car makers in France pay their employees well) the cheapness will not be so cheap after BREXIT. Apart from that, the UK government is already in trouble with their own ministers as well as Labour ministers, by holding secret meetings on a BREXIT under the pretext that the details if known could affect the markets, (in fact there is little they can do except listen to what the EU is going to tell them) In the meantime the markets are being affected already anyway. That would be one big except that it is not funny at all.
There is also a coming all party revolt since most ministers insist that a soveriegn parliament as a whole must, and should, debate if BREXIT should happen or not, in other words parliament should vote on it. It is not a small issue to be done by accommodation it's about the whole rationale of the UK parliament, and should all the accommodations be done by a cabinet alone, it will make an arse of one of the principles of getting out of Europe, that of being ruled by our Sovereign parliament, not just the government of the day.

a reply to: audubon

NOOOOOO!!!!

I love marmite... I eat it almost daily. I slather it on toast in the morning and crackers in the afternoon.

I am the only one in my family that likes it and I go through at least a jar of it every 2 weeks.

I'll have to hit the store tomorrow and get a few more jars...have 2 on shelf at home.

originally posted by: smurfy
Since the pound dropped 20% this last while because of BREXIT fears, the the imported components for Marmite do actually cost more. Usually that cost is passed on, either some down to the consumer, or all of it directly.
Already the government, or at least the Bank of England are saying we are likely to return to inflationary times.
That's how much of a feck up that BREXIT is.

One of Tesco's top men used to work for Unilever. Tesco removed all the items

concerned from their on line ordering.

As a result Tesco and Unilever have negotiated a much smaller retail price

increase and have taken the *hit* on profits between them .... interestingly they

are keeping tight lipped on the % loss in profit each is taking.

originally posted by: eletheia

originally posted by: smurfy
Since the pound dropped 20% this last while because of BREXIT fears, the the imported components for Marmite do actually cost more. Usually that cost is passed on, either some down to the consumer, or all of it directly.
Already the government, or at least the Bank of England are saying we are likely to return to inflationary times.
That's how much of a feck up that BREXIT is.

One of Tesco's top men used to work for Unilever. Tesco removed all the items

concerned from their on line ordering.

As a result Tesco and Unilever have negotiated a much smaller retail price

increase and have taken the *hit* on profits between them .... interestingly they

are keeping tight lipped on the % loss in profit each is taking.

Nobody is saying that as yet, however a deal had to be done bearing in mind that Unilever is a British/Dutch company, and there's probably no doubt that Unilever's costs will have risen because of the pound even if most of what Marmite is made of, (yeast) is wholly sourced in the UK. Not only that, the mini-war overall cost both sides loss of shares...3% Tesco, 3.7% or so Unilever, and it wasn't just Marmite involved anyway.
The big picture though is, this is going to happen over and over again, Unilever is an international company...interests in the US as well, just like thousands of others. It will be years before anything will be sorted, if ever.

My next door neighbor is an 800,000 square foot Unilever Distribution Center here in the US. No Marmite here, but plenty of detergent and Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Unilever are trying to profiteer post Brexit and failed badly.

Marmite is 100% made in the UK and from what I have read, the ingredients are sourced here too.

These are the ingredients..
Yeast Extract (contains Barley), Salt, Vegetable Juice Concentrate, Vitamins (Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid), Natural Flavouring (contains Celery).

So the fall in the pound shouldn't impact the price of Marmite.

I say boycott Unilever!!!
They are, just like the other big multinational corporations, buying up every competitor they can. Eventually we will be left relying on these parasitical corporations, that's when the real price rises will come.

Marmite sales have increased by 61% compared with same time last year...
So much for people boycotting Marmite.

www.dailymail.co.uk...


Now with my sceptic hat on, was this all planned?
Massive sales for Marmite and free positive advertising for Tesco.