LOVE it or hate it? Meet the man who earns a living eating MARMITE.
For many people eating spoonfuls of Marmite every day would be their worst
nightmare, but for St John Skelton it’s his dream job.
The 60-year-old is Marmite’s chief taste tester and is responsible for tasting
every batch before it leaves the factory in Burton in Trent, Staffs.
Despite being loathed by millions across the world, St John can’t get enough
of the stuff and eats it almost every day.
St John lives just a stones throw away from the Marmite factory where he has
worked for 38 years and has been the company’s quality and innovation expert
for the last 15 years.
He is part of a small team of ’tasters’ who savour the Marmite in a lab
kitchen to check each batch is the correct texture, consistency and within
the range of acceptable flavours.
He said: “My job is to make sure Marmite is the colour, texture and flavour
people recognise as Marmite.
“Marmite is a really complex product to manufacture, we have lots of different
yeast suppliers which can cause slight variations in taste, so it’s
important the product tastes just right.
“Every batch of Marmite varies slightly, but it’s only really noticeable when
you taste it critically.”
But it’s not just all in day’s work for St John, he loves the sticky spread so
much he eats it at home too.
The ’Marmite man’ loves nothing more than spreading it on his toast, having it
in his sandwiches for lunch or sometimes adding it to his meals for dinner.
He said: “I’ve liked Marmite for as long as I can remember from a very early
age probably before I even knew what it was.
“And my appreciation for Marmite has just grown over the years.
“Personally I’ve always liked savoury flavours and the taste of Marmite has
always intrigued me.
“I eat Marmite most days, not only tasting it every
day at work but I probably eat more of it at home particularly at the
weekends.
“I have to taste it critically at work which I enjoy, but I prefer to eat it
on toast or in a sandwich with chicken and salad, is my favourite.
“Whenever I tell anyone what I do I get a mixed reaction some people are
shocked and can’t understand why somebody would want to taste Marmite.
“Or fellow Marmite lovers are really enthusiastic and think it’s a great job.”