Hummus Wars – Osem Strikes Back

August 15, 2008 - 7:31 AM by

Tribe hummus productsReporting on some market competition intensification overseas, The Hummus Blog estimates that the American hummus market is currently worth some $250 million annually, and it’s still growing – by 78 percent in 2007. Not bad for a country that calls our beloved chickpea paste “hummus dip” (meant to be spread on “pita bread”).

Elite-Strauss, which has been manufacturing snack foods locally through a partnership with Pepsi’s Frito Lay for many years, has recently been partially bought out by the soft drink giant in an effort to pool resources and maximize American hummus market penetration. It’s a smart move for Pepsi, a brand that has done well with “ethnic” foods in the past (owning and operating the vaguely Italian-themed Pizza Hut chain as well as the somewhat Mexican-themed Taco Bell).

Strauss’ Achla supermarket hummus is Israel’s most popular and most flavorful, facts which have paved the way for success via the firm’s international Sabra Foods line, a brand not unfamiliar with courting publicity.

Osem, Strauss’ main competitor, itself a long-time partner of Nestle, has announced that it’s considering purchasing the Massachusetts-based Tribe hummus brand, which currently holds the US’s second-largest market share.

And with the popularity of the Zohan movie, a veritable long-form advertisement for Israel’s favorite paste, the international Hummus Wars are likely just getting warmed up.

Tags: , , , , • Category: Business, Food, General 

Comments

5 Comments on Hummus Wars – Osem Strikes Back

  1. Dan on Fri, Aug 15th 2008 11:00 AM

    2. Did Pepsi partially buy Elite-Strauss itself or only the American branch?

  2. Sami Ashraf on Fri, Aug 15th 2008 10:03 PM

    3. The Hummus is a traditional PALESTINIAN food and most of the restuarests that serve Hummus in the States are owned or managed by Arabs specially from Palestine. The Israeli version of Hummus is a modern that was taken from the native Palestinians.

  3. Zafir Faysal on Mon, Aug 18th 2008 3:30 PM

    4. No Sami, Hummus is a traditional LEBANESE and ISRAELI food delight, not Balestinian one! The Balestinians took the recipe from the Lebanese and Israelis. Actually, most of these so-called Balestinians came from surrounding Arab countries to work in the region after the Jewish people started to farm and develop it for the first time in many centuries.
    Let the Hummus wars continue! PLease, Zohan, help resolve this controversy!
    I like lots of hummus and salad with my falafel.

  4. cat_rescuer on Tue, Aug 19th 2008 2:18 AM

    5. Whether it was a “Palestinian” food is immaterial. As usual, Israelis improved it to the point that it is a worldwide gourmet food. Hummus has been around throughout the Middle East for thousands of years – no one can claim its origin.

    An additional point: there is no such place as “Palestine”, and “Palestinians” only began to exist in the mind of Yassir Arafat.

  5. Dangarth on Wed, Aug 20th 2008 12:37 AM

    6. To my personal taste the best Hummus in Israel is at Arabic restaurants…
    As for store bought …Achla and Sabra come a faaaaaaaaaar second (to restaurant made) though much tastier than Athene and other local brands.

    One of the most important ” secrets ” of good Hummus is olive oil with high acidity …’BALADI (village style} and most store bought Hummus contains little or No Olive oil at all!
    And as little Tahina as possible ….In Israel Achla substitutes with vegetable oil…
    I hope the ‘ Paleos’ do not claim to have invented the Pita as they can’t even pronounce the letter P (they pronounce it as Beee.); it would be BITA …

    As for Hummus, WHOEVER INVENTED IT ……THANKS /TODA/SHUKRAN ….. and if some IDIOT wants to ‘ take back’ the Hummus I had today, he can come and ‘collect it – tomorrow…

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