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Britain is facing a hummus crisis as a global shortage of chickpeas means prices are on the increase.
The cost of the dip has risen by 29 percent since January 2017 – on average, a 310g pot of hummus now costs £1.47 – a year-on-year increase of 33 pence – a report by trade magazine The Grocer has found.
According to the consumer insight firm Kantar Worldpanel, UK consumers spent £181.7m on chilled dips in 2017, up from £143.8m in 2007.
Demand
“Chickpea prices have increased during 2017 and remain high,” Tasneem Backhouse, managing director of chickpea supplier EHL Ingredients, told The Grocer.
“Demand is strong from every market and currently there isn’t enough supply to go around.
“This is driven by poor crops in some of the main producing origins over the past 12 months,” Backhouse said.
Inflation
According to Ramon Hazan, the Founder of Me Too! hummus, which has seen the price of its 500g pots shoot up by 19p, producers need to ‘strike a balance’ when it comes to pricing.
He told The Telegraph: “We have a quality product which we believe is worth paying more for.
“However, we do need to strike a balance which ensures we are competitively priced and makes us accessible to as many consumers as possible.
“We would not want to lose customers as a result of retail price inflation.”
