Australia Will Ride Out A Global Shortage Of Hommus

The reason why Australia will ride any price hikes and stock shortage out is noted by Chris Elliot.

Chickpeas in Australia have already gone up nearly two fold in 2 years to us but consumers aren’t seeing this increase to date in our market price probably because Obela is the market leader in Hommus representing almost half of all prepackaged retail sales of Hommus (39.4% as measured by IRI last 4wks) and we’ve worked closely with local growers to ensure that we have supply and a cost base that allows us to holding price for our consumers as long as possible.

There is a lot of international demand for our chickpeas that is contributing to this but locally the demand is coming from consumers, Australian’s are falling love with good Hommus (we’re growing at +40% a year and have doubled the category in 5 years) so I think the demand locally is here to stay and is only going to grow. We need more farmers to see this and start growing chickpeas.  

Because we’ve worked with our local growers to best ensure supply and a sustainable price with contracts covering 2018. I just hope more farmers see this opportunity to get onboard the Hommus trend and think about growing chickpeas instead of other crops with less demand. Hommus is amazing and as more people taste it the more they fall in love with it so we’re definitely going to need more and more farmers to support us.

We’re also looking for opportunities to work with potential future chickpea farmers that want assurances around income in return for their crops. The Hommus trend is great for entrepreneurial farmers in Australia and we hope to work with more like-minded farmers in future.

Here is some recent Obela news below that may be of interest also.

Obela Leads Australia’s Love Affair Of Hommus

Feb 2018: Thanks to the vision of Obela, over 500,000 new Australian households have fallen in love with hommus in the short space of four years. It's quite a feat for a 2012 startup, founded at a time when the chilled dip category had been in decline for three years prior.

 Obela has been an Australian success story since launching its first Obela Hommus varieties in 2013. Indeed, it has achieved the status of Australia’s largest dips manufacturer within just five years of the company's formation.

 "Our vision is to inspire Australians to find new ways of dipping and snacking with products that they don’t just like they fall in love with," says Chris Elliott, General Manager of Obela Australia. "Now, thanks to Obela, Australians dip, spread, share, dress and sauce with hommus every day like they never have before. And when they think hommus they think Obela."

 Hommus wasn't always this big in Australia. In fact, at the time of Obela's launch, hommus was a niche category. Obela changed all that, growing the hommus category from $42 million to an estimated $100 million in retail grocery sales in five years, making it one of the fastest growing categories in retail food today.

 "Within the first 14 months of operation, Obela became market share leader of the hommus category and remains there today," continues Chris Elliott. "Obela now sells nearly twice as much hommus as its nearest competitor brand, and we're experiencing a 30 percent growth in 2017 alone. We're still spreading the hommus love far and wide, and our goal is to double the number of new households savouring Obela by 2023."

 Obela has expanded hommus outside of just the traditional dips category with portable offerings now available to purchase from convenience retailers. In store, Obela positions its range of Hommus adjacent to butter and margarine, encouraging Australians to spread flavourful, better-for-you options.

 Obela is a joint venture partnership between two of the leading global food and beverage companies, PepsiCo and Strauss. Obela recently launched in New Zealand with the goal to replicate its phenomenal Australian success story.

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 About Obela

Obela Australia was formed in 2012 as a joint venture partnership between two of the leading global food and beverage companies, PepsiCo and Strauss. The company’s global vision is to bring the diversity of the world to life through an array of fresh, healthy and wholesome dips and spreads. Obela's food inspires sharing and togetherness by enabling the exciting discovery of worldly flavours adapted to local cuisines. 

The Obela Australia Range

Obela now has over ten unique and delicious varieties of Hommus. It constantly searches for exciting and authentic food experiences using real ingredients (approx. 85% sourced in Australian) consumers can see and taste. Products are available in snack size, bulk spreading tubs and there is a delicious garnished entertaining range for every occasion.

Obela is currently partnering with Manu Feildel who broadens usage ideas with Obela as a key recipe ingredient. Obela has also recently added delicious and authentic Guacamole and Tzatziki dips to its growing range.

Obela Sites and Employees

Obela employs 60 people across its two sites in North Sydney, New South Wales and Cavan, South Australia. Since its foundation, the company has worked tirelessly to create and retain its position as an employer of choice.  The company's unique Retain and Promote Program recognises staff strengths, resulting in 15 percent of its workforce promoted in the last year alone. There is also an Obela Reward and Recognition Program in place to thank employees who go above and beyond to live the company's values.

Health and Safety Achievements

Obela has an industry-recognised health and well-being program, achieving finalist in the National Safety Council of Australia awards. In celebration of its safety record, every time Obela achieves 365 days without Lost Time Injury (LTI), staff members are rewarded with an additional day off to spend time with family to remember why safety at work is important.

Obela Plants with a Purpose Program

After digesting the alarming statistics that significant numbers of Australian children are not consuming the recommended daily intake of vegetables, Obela launched its trial Plants with a Purpose (PWP) program.

The program aims to encourage children to eat more vegetables, using hommus as a healthy way to make vegetables more exciting. Obela's long-term goal is to sponsor its program into hundreds of schools across Australia using three days of vegetable education: Nutrition Day, Garden-Building Day and Planting Day.