In what ways is the smell of the Kraft factory and Vegemite and example of intangible cultural heritage? c. Why is the Melbourne City Council recommending a heritage listing for this smell? d. Why is it important to Melburnians (and others) to preserve the smell? e. Why is the smell more significant as part of Melbourne’s heritage than the building where Vegemite is made?

City of Melbourne council has recognised the heritage value and ‘sensory experience’ of the Australian yeast spread’s distinctively pungent perfume. The taste of Australia’s iconic spread has long been divisive. Now the smell of Vegemite is being recognised.

The City of Melbourne council has recognised the heritage value of the distinctive odour as part of its description of a Port Melbourne factory where the yeast spread has been long manufactured. The former Kraft Vegemite factory on 1 Vegemite Way, Fishermans Bend was built over a century ago. Now owned by Bega, the factory has produced the nation’s supply of Vegemite since the 1920s. “It is important for future urban planning in that area to be underpinned by an understanding of its historical significance to Melbourne’s industrial history.” The Vegemite factory, “and the smell coming from it,” is a large part of that historical significance, Watson said. Located off the Westgate freeway – a major traffic artery in Melbourne, Watson said the distinctive smell of the factory is something “you get a whiff of when passing from place to place.

“The National Trust wanted to acknowledge the sensory experience of the place as part of the City of Melbourne’s heritage study.” However, the City of Melbourne council stopped short of declaring the Vegemite smell “significant”. This is to ensure no “future development of Fishermans Bend” is put in jeopardy, said the City of Melbourne’s deputy lord mayor Nicholas Reece in a statement. While the deputy lord mayor acknowledged the “attachment many people have towards the distinctive smell of the beloved spread” that emanates from the factory, the council sought to avoid tying “a smell to the ongoing use of the land”.

The deputy lord mayor does acknowledge that the distinctive smell will be recorded as a “recognised part of the site’s history” in the City of Melbourne’s heritage study. “We see this as an appropriate outcome. We are pleased the smell will still be recognised,” said Watson. “Our campaign for the smell to be recognised is about acknowledging that the significance of this place goes beyond the bricks and mortar of the factory building.”

The idea of recognising smells as having heritage significance is unusual, explained Watson. “This is the first time the National Trust has proposed something like this in relation to a heritage place.”