The American snack food community just got a healthy addition – hummus. Yes, this loved chickpea spread from the Middle East has won new fame in the US following the National Football League’s announcement that hummus is now the official dip of the NFL.
The league chose Sabra hummus – made by Sabra Dipping Company and jointly owned by PepsiCo and Tel Aviv-based Strauss Group– as its official dips sponsor.
But whereas Israelis are used to eating this spread in a pita with falafel or shwarma, Sabra hummus is being marketed as a healthier alternative to mayonnaise.
Sabra’s Israeli CEO Ronen Zohar told Bloomberg that he believes Americans will go gaga over the new dip option. Sabra recently launched its first batch of US television commercials in which they explain to the American masses how to eat hummus.
“Most of the people in the US never tasted hummus,” Zohar told Bloomberg. “You have to change their mindset that even if the name is strange and the brown color of the hummus is not as appetizing, it tastes wonderful.”
Incidentally, hummus (khoo-mus in Hebrew) is pronounced hum-muss in the US.
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