Hummus is on the rise. We’ve already discussed the rise of web searches for hummus on Google. The following examples don’t dive into stats and graphs, but show the success of hummus in North America. First, let’s look at this picture:

Thanks to shane_curcuru on Flickr for the picture.

We see here a full aisle of hummus in a supermarket. Not a shelf in the organic foods stand, not a product in a remote corner for imported goods, but a significant floor space in a regular supermarket.

I guess that our Middle-Eastern readers are unexcited. But this picture wasn’t taken in the Middle East, but in Arlington, Virginia, USA. Arlington is one of Washington DC’s many suburbs. You may say that Washington is an international city with many immigrants, so this scene just answers demand. Just note that the photographer was also surprised (though satisfied).

Now, here’s a fresh article that proposes a green version of hummus. The article compares the recipe it gives to hummus. This is already an indicator that hummus already gained traction and is known to the public. The other sign is the articles’ publisher: The Calgary Herald. Calgary is in the province of Alberta, Canada. The city is famous for something smooth – snow, not hummus. Calgary hosted the winter Olympics in 1988.

This “green” hummus recipe was the publisher’s healthy green option for Saint Patrick’s day, BTW.

I’m sure that many of the American readers have seen more hummus around them, and can share examples of their own (please do). The point is: hummus is gaining ground with American consumers, and it looks like it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

In their vision, hummus providers such as Sabra and Tribe want to see hummus stand alongside other common dips such as mayonnaise and ketchup. There’s still a long way to go, of course. We’ll discuss this in a separate post.