The Hummus War has Begun
Last Sunday, the Hummus Was has finally began. Unlike other wars, this one is going to be fairly harmless, because the fighting will be done by means of marketing, advertising, giveaways and special prices.
Calcalist is the #3 business publication in Israel, a relatively new and small newspaper. It’s a very mainstream, nevertheless, so it usually deals with mainstream business news – nothing like that main headline on August 3rd. The headline said: The Hummus War.
It’s seems like a very common news item: two major local companies fighting over a market. The point is that these two companies, Osem and Strauss, are fighting over the American hummus market. Read more
The Emerging Hummus Market in the US
American household are embracing the hummus. The packaged hummus products now sell 30 times what they did a decade ago. 10 year ago, most Americans didn’t know what Hummus was. Today, the packaged hummus has grown into an estimated $143 million business, says Associated Press.25 years after Israel and 15 years after the UK, you can now find it in mainstream groceries all over the states. Some still spell it “Humous” or “Chumus”, but it is more common now to find Tehina (or “Tahini“, sesame seed butter) in it’s list of ingredients, as you would in Middle Eastern restaurants.
Currently, there are about 80 American hummus manufacturers, and according to an ACNielsen study, sales has increased 25% last year. Common predictions talk about up to 50% growth by the end of this decade.
In part, the growth is attributed to healthier eating trends, and hummus – even in it’s industrialized form – is considered a natural food, and by all means healthier than most other dips. Actually, it was very popular in natural food stores for a while. But recently, even 7-11 has begun selling hummus throughout their eastern shore stores.
In Israel, a recent study has decreased packaged hummus sales a bit, showing it’s nutritional value is inferior to that of a freshly made hummus. Since “hummusiot” – restaurants which specialize in hummus – are very common in Israel, it is relatively easy to replace the industrial substitute with the original dish.
Israeli manufacturers such as Strauss, Tsabar and others, address Israeli market with low calorie products for some time, and there are also a few health food restaurants in Israel, selling organic hummus. But the simple truth is there nothing like the freshly homemade hummus (and here is our hummus recipe, btw).
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