Cedars offers 16 hummus flavors, including roasted red pepper.

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More than 25 years ago, Cedars Mediterranean Foods began as a small takeout operation offering a variety of Mediterranean products, and the company quickly attracted a loyal following.

According to Vice President of Sales Dominic Frocione, customers would regularly suggest that the company sell its hummus in grocery stores.

“Our founder, Abe Hanna, thought this was a great idea, and went to the first chain around here, Market Basket, and gained authorization to bring in products on a daily basis,” according to Frocione.

The company began commercializing its products in 1986, and has grown to gain a presence in most major markets throughout the United States.

When the company first started, there were only a few direct competitors serving a small number of markets, Frocione says. “Now, there are about 100 or more companies, and probably five majors that ship on a national basis,” he explains. "We’re one of the only major companies in the industry that is still privately owned.”

In addition, the company’s famous hummus recipe comes directly from the founding family, Frocione states. “It’s an authentic recipe, but we took the time to Americanize our flavor profiles, by adding roasted red peppers, tomato and basil, garlic and other toppings,” he explains. “This made the product more appealing and mainstream, and the category has taken off.”

Healthy Substitute
According to Cedar’s, its hummus can also be used as healthy, flavorful home meal replacements, served with flatbread, pita chips, vegetables or as a spread on sandwiches.

In addition, hummus can also be used as a topping for fish, chicken or even baked potatoes, the company says.

Today, Cedars offers 16 flavors of hummus, salsas, pita chips, baklava, tahini, and a Greek-style dip called tzatziki. “We also just introduced a Greek-style dip based on yogurt, cucumber and garlic,” he says. “We’re constantly looking at new products to keep our category fresh.”

Healthy Options
The Mediterranean foods category has grown rapidly in recent years, and Frocione credits their innately nutritious attributes. “These products are very healthy, and fit all the buzzwords today,” he explains. “Our products have no trans fats, no cholesterol [and are] high fiber; they’re healthy products. Consumers are looking for healthy food, but they also want something that tastes good.”

Cedar’s most-popular hummus flavors include:
•    Garlic
•    Roasted red pepper
•    Sundried tomato and basil
•    Lemon
•    Artichoke spinach
•    Garden vegetable
•    Horeseradish

Growing Pains
The category’s extensive growth can also be a challenge, Frocione adds. At times, finding the shelf space necessary to get the product to its customers is difficult.

“This is our biggest challenge of all right now,” he says. “We might be doing great business, but grocery stores only have so much space to devote to this category. Many retailers have said that if they had more space, they would sell more of our products, but the bottom line is that they don’t.”

Frocione says this might change in the future, thanks to increasing consumer demand and media coverage of the category. “There have been a lot of magazine articles pushing our products because they’re so healthy,” he says. “Recently, an article in Real Simple magazine named us the best original hummus in the country, and Eating Well says we’re the best, also,” Frocione continues. In addition, the company will be featured on an upcoming episode of the Food Network’s “Unwrapped.”

Family Operation
The Hanna family still owns the company, and promotes a family atmosphere throughout the organization.

According to Frocione, its family ownership allows management to make decisions more efficiently. “I believe it’s the people behind the company that truly sets us apart,” he says.

Employees have an average tenure of 12 years, and many are cross-trained to perform work in a variety of areas, he adds.

In addition, the company acquired a 100,000-square-foot facility, which distributes nearly 30 million units annually, Frocione says.

Keeping Up Momentum
As many grocers continue to see the Mediterranean segment grow rapidly, this new production facility will allow the company to maintain its momentum and meet the demand.

“Our new plant affords us the opportunity to bring many new and innovative products to our loyal customers which will help them add to their Mediterranean sections,” the company explains. “Mediterranean foods continues to be a hot segment of the market and Cedar’s will continue to lead the way.”

International Reach
The company opened a facility in Greece, where it continues focusing on developing authentic dips and other new products to add to its portfolio.

“We’re constantly buying new equipment and looking for other ways to double or triple our output,” he adds.

Its facilities in both the United States and Greece offer the latest in HACCP procedures to ensure customers are purchasing the best, most authentic product on the market.

In addition, “Cedars is the only major manufacturer of hummus that steams our own chickpeas to give our products a fresher and more natural homemade taste,” the company explains.

“We blend the best ingredients from around the world together to make our products taste like they were made one package at a time.”

Growth Projections
In the next several years, Frocione would like to see the company grow to five times its current size. “This is an aggressive plan, but it’s nice to set goals like this,” he says.

“We’re always coming up with more product lines and we’re working on expanding our distribution to gain a bigger presence throughout the country,” Frocione adds.