Smiles spread like Marmite (+poll)

Marmite fans snapped up hundreds of jars of the black gold when it returned to Bay supermarket shelves.

Siblings Lilli, Nicholas and Henry Scott were the first to get their hands on the spread after waiting for Mount Maunganui New World to open at 7am yesterday.

Mum Vicki Scott said there was no way her children were going to miss out and bought three tubs "just in case".

"[My kids] love it. Breakfast hasn't been as healthy and we've been having more sugar-laden spreads so it's good to have it back."

Within five minutes of the store opening, four other morning shoppers had added Marmite to their trolleys. Grocery manager Louis Venter said most people bought "a couple of jars" but one shopper grabbed eight. He said Marmite sales soared between 7am and 8am and by the end of the day the supermarket had sold about 260 jars.

"The way it's going, we expect [the stock] to last a couple of days. We are trying to secure some more but I'm not sure when we will get our next delivery because Foodstuffs allocate the product to us."

At New World Gate Pa, the first two customers rushed in to buy Marmite, and by 3pm the store had sold more than half of its 528 jars.

At Pak'nSave Papamoa, grocery manager Glenn Macdonald said there had been a steady demand and by mid-afternoon the store had sold about 150 jars.

"People haven't gone mad for it but it's only the first day so we'll have to wait and see how mad everyone gets."

Countdown media spokesperson Kate Porter would not release region-specific information on the number of jars of Marmite sold in Western Bay stores, for commercial reasons. She said a promotion offering a free jar of Marmite with a $50 or more spend, had "gone well".

Sanitarium stopped Marmite production at its Christchurch plant - the only place it is made - last March after earthquake damage.