I love hummus. I’ve loved it for years. I discovered it in college in the mid-1980s and experimented with my own concoctions. But I never thought about adding ingredients like kale, coconut or, eegads, chocolate. That’s what the creators at Hope Foods do. And their hummus flavors are YUMMY.
Flavors like Kale Pesto with kale, basil and lemon; Thai Coconut Curry with dried coconut, curry powder and other spices; and Dark Chocolate with cocoa powder, agave and vanilla (it’s like Nutella, but better). Other fun flavors include Spicy Avocado (their first flavor), Sriacha, Jalapeno Cilantro and Dark Chocolate Coconut, to name a few.
I had the pleasure of touring the Hope Foods facility with one of my co-workers, and it was a fun experience. First off, the people who work at Hope are awesome: positive, energetic, committed, inspiring and welcoming. They all have the same end goal of creating healthy, great-tasting products.
Several staff took us through the manufacturing area, which was fascinating. We suited up in hairnets and lab coats (check out my look above!) so as not to contaminate anything, and walked by an array of huge, shiny metal machines that grind, blend, package and pressurize the various flavors. The ingredients are all industrial sized, too: Chickpeas come in big foil bags, tahini in large plastic tubs, olive oil in giant containers and spices in full-sized packages, for example.
Mass production of food is always cool to see, particularly healthy and organic foods by socially conscious companies like Hope Foods. It’s such a contrast to watch a bunch of machines cranking away and making huge amounts of something compared to preparing a small amount by hand in your kitchen at home. And that’s where Hope Hummus started, in a kitchen of one of the owners. They started with their Spicy Avocado flavor, selling at local farmers’ markets. And today their products are available across the country.
Taste testing hummus at Hope Foods.
The company continues to grow its stable of products, and we had the opportunity to partake in the regular Friday taste test of different iterations of current products, as well as new flavors. I am hush, hush on those new flavors until they come out, but what I can say is that there is some tasty stuff on the near horizon. Keep your eyes pealed for new Hope flavors at your local grocery store.
In the meantime, read more about Hope Foods, their great staff and tasty products at www.hopefoods.com.