Brits with a soft spot for Marmite may soon be bereft of their favourite spread — if the product's owner decides it doesn’t have a “purpose”.
Grocery giant Unilever said the love-it-or-hate-it spread was among a number of big-selling brands that had to show they were doing something “meaningful” for the world or society.
Others include Pot Noodles and Magnum ice cream.
Alan Jope, Unilever’s new chief executive, said it “didn’t matter” if products were a money-spinner for the multinational.
“Principles are only principles when they cost you something,” he added.
He said brands could be put on the block if they did not “contribute meaningfully to the world or society in a way that will last for decades”.
The review runs the risk that much-loved British brands could be sold abroad.
However, insiders said it was unlikely they would be sold, with the aim being to use their power for good.
Many of Unilever’s more than 400 brands have already been deemed to have a “purpose” in this way.
They include 28 which have been classed as “sustainable living brands”, including Knorr stock cubes and Persil washing powder.
Together ther account for half of Unilever’s sales and are growing faster than its owner brands.
Another is ice cream Ben & Jerry’s, which has taken a strong stance around marijuana legislation in the US.
It website says: “Almost everybody looking to cash in on the booming pot business is white. And almost everybody getting arrested for using pot is Black.”
Ben & Jerry’s also announced plans to launch cannabis ice cream.
It hopes the new frozen treat containing CBD oil - a non-psychoactive chemical compound found in the marijuana plant - will be a hit.
Meanwhile, the last jar of Colman’s Mustard has rolled off the production line of its historic factory in Norwich.
Unilever announced in January it was closing the Carrow Works plant after 160 years, hitting 113 staff.
It blamed the move on soft drinks firm Britvic, which shares the site’s facilities, ending production there.
Colman’s Mustard powder and mint sauce will move to a new plant near Norwich, along with some 25 jobs.
Other Colman’s products will be made at Unilever sites elsewhere in the UK.
But packing of dry sauces will be done in Germany.
