Early career and army service He worked in the food import and export industry, first for J. Bartram & Sons. He went to China at the age of 19, when American goods were being
boycotted there, However, the post-war economic situation led to great financial losses, With the cooperation of his creditors and the bank, he formed a new company, named Fred Walker & Co. (same as his earlier Hong Kong company), with himself as managing director, and two other directors representing his creditors.
Vegemite was created, and first sold in 1923 after Walker's daughter Sheilah selected the winning entry from a public competition to name the product. After poor sales performance, Walker changed the product's name to Parwill (a joking reference to Marmite: "
Ma might, but
Pa will") before returning to Vegemite. (In 1935, customers were given a free jar of Vegemite with every Fred Walker & Co. product purchased, and the popularity of the spread grew steadily after this promotion. Vegemite became an Australian cultural icon.)
Cheese and Kraft Walker learnt of
Chicago businessman
James L. Kraft's method of halting the maturation of
cheese by processing it in a certain way, which he had
patented in the US in 1916, so he went to the United States to meet him and acquire the Australian rights to use this method. He began a partnership with Kraft to manufacture this "
processed cheese" in 1925, and in May 1926 the Kraft Walker Cheese Co. was registered, a separate company from Fred Walker & Co. but managed by the same staff, Kraft Walker began manufacturing "Red Coon" (later COON) cheese around July 1931.
Employee welfare Walker was successful at attracting staff by offering workers a
social club, allowing for morning
tea breaks from manufacturing, providing
first aid and
canteen facilities, and modern work systems that increased employee productivity. ==Family, later life and death==