Made-in-Lebanon hummus relies on American imports!

In its edition of today, L’Orient Le Jour daily portrayed the traditional hummus industry in Lebanon noting that despite its international fame, it is still largely dependent on the outside. In this respect, Lebanon has, between 2012 and 2014, imported around 14,000 tons of chickpea crops, and exported nearly 80% of the finished hummus product to foreign markets amidst a limited domestic demand. Citing the latest agriculture ministry data, the newspaper pointed out that Lebanon has only produced 3,500 tons of chickpeas crops in 2011. This is mainly due to the high cost of production, as explained by head of the Crops and Vegetables Section at the Agricultural Scientific Research Department, Rabi’ Kabalan. The newspaper went on to say that the price of chickpea in the Lebanese market, is 1.5 dollars per kilo, and that yearly local consumption is estimated at 1,500 tons per year, i.e. a total value of $ 2.2 million. And to shed more light on the subject, L’Orient Le Jour interviewed a number of marketing representative of Lebanese establishments in the hummus industry, who agreed that the bulk of the crops are imported from the United States, Mexico and Canada. They also indicated that the present price of one ton of chickpeas has soared to USD 2000 up from USD 1300-1700 last year. One of them, however, grieved that while Europe and the Arab Gulf countries still import made-in-Lebanon hummus, the US has in the past five years have shifted towards imports from Jordan. Other countries, like Kuwait and Dubai, have also embarked on the production of hummus. (L’Orient Le Jour, August 1, 2016)