The supply of the much loved spread, Marmite, has stabilised and is finding its way back onto the shelves of local supermarkets around the country.

According to Deborah-Ann Sharwood, of PepsiCo Sub-Saharan Africa, Marmite has been in short supply for almost two years.

She said in order to meet the high demand, the company had started double shifts at the Marmite factory this week.

“As of last week, the supply of spent yeast has stabilised. The last two years have been tough at our Marmite factory because we were unable to procure any supply of spent yeast, a key ingredient, during the various lockdown periods.

“Our two key suppliers of yeast in South Africa were not permitted to operate. As yeast is a live product, we are unable to stockpile it and hence the production unit had to stop functioning during each of those times. In addition to the yeast challenge, we experienced a national shortage of one of the other raw materials which further impacted our recovery timing,” Sharwood said.

She added the popularity of the savoury spread and two year shortage meant the demand for Marmite was high.

“As soon as the shelf is stocked, people buy up the stock. In order to try to produce significantly higher volumes, we have started double shifts at the Marmite factory this week,” she said.