Why it matters:
- The North American hummus market is expected to grow from $954 million in 2024 to $3.1 billion by 2035, according to Market Research Future.
- Tapping into that growth, Ithaca Hummus built a $50 million dip brand in 12 years without ever raising a formal fundraising round, landing retailers from Wegmans to Walmart.
- What’s the success recipe for the cult brand? Founder and former chef Chris Kirby touts social media as a great place to hunt for trends, and he pursues authentic marketing campaigns that connect consumers to broader concepts.
Chris Kirby loved food. But after seven years of working as a chef at some of the hottest restaurants in the United States, he was ready for a new challenge. At Marcel's restaurant in Washington, D.C., a Lebanese line cook Kirby worked with inspired him with made-from-scratch hummus he whipped up for the restaurant staff’s communal meal.
When Kirby moved to Ithaca, New York, in 2013, he’d been perfecting his own hummus recipe. He enrolled in community college and then in Cornell’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration to pick up business fundamentals, but with the hospitality spin he identified with.
Then one weekend, Kirby showed up at the Ithaca Farmers Market with a folding table and 200 cups of his homemade hummus.
“I would watch people one at a time light up as they tried it for the first time,” he said. “That reaction was like a drug for me — almost. I wanted more and more. Eventually, it clicked, if this product is delivering that kind of experience on a small scale, maybe there’s a path to do this on a bigger scale.”
Twelve years later, Ithaca Hummus has grown a cult following of hummus lovers that last year alone bought 10 million tubs of unexpected flavors like lemon beet and lemon dill. The brand is sold at more than 10,000 retail stores, and it’s on track to hit $50 million in revenue this year. Lifetime revenue has now surpassed $150 million, without Kirby ever raising a formal fundraising round.
“It happened very incrementally,” he said. “A lot of brands try to replace time with money, and ultimately they don’t end up building a sustainable business and enduring brand. These things take time.”
Ithaca tapped into a robust segment of the food industry: The North American hummus market is expected to grow from $954 million in 2024 to $3.1 billion by 2035, according to Market Research Future.
Building a food business, market by market, in ‘concentric circles’ and tapping distributors to break into big retailers from Wegmans to Walmart
After the Ithaca Farmers Market, Kirby added a second market, then a third, and a fourth. Then he set his sights on local natural food stores. He drove up with a cooler full of hummus and pitched store managers on his product. In New York City, he lugged his cooler bag on the subway to visit as many natural food stores as he could.
But he kept running into the same problem. Many stores he approached, including Wegmans and Whole Foods, told him they ordered products through a distributor and not through individual brands. So, they couldn’t carry it.
I would watch people one at a time light up as they tried it for the first time. That reaction was like a drug for me — almost. I wanted more and more.Chris Kirby, Founder and CEO of Ithaca Hummus
Kirby assured them he would drop off products, make up invoices, and even stock shelves himself if they would just give his product a chance. When the answer was no, he contacted a distributor. But the distributor wouldn’t work with him because he was only in two stores. “It was a tedious process of breaking through the barriers,” he said.
His first big break came when Wegmans agreed to carry his hummus after he partnered with distributor River Valley Foods, but just in its Ithaca store. Within the first four weeks, Wegmans was selling 1,000 tubs of Ithaca Hummus a week. The corporate office took notice and decided to carry the product in two stores in the area, then five, then 10.
Soon, Kirby was delivering hummus to 30 stores while also selling at farmers markets. Then, he linked up with regional distributor Gourmet Guru (later acquired by United Natural Foods Inc. [UNFI]). He brokered a deal where, when the truck driver picked up his pallet of hummus, Kirby rode along so he could sell to stores along the driver’s route that didn’t carry Ithaca Hummus. The connection marked his entry into Whole Foods.
“Those days started at 3 or 4 in the morning,” Kirby said. “I did my little hummus show all around upstate New York.”
Along the way, stories of fellow entrepreneurs who had succeeded in building a profitable business fueled his determination. He devoured founder stories online and took nuggets of wisdom and lessons learned to heart.
“I kept thinking, ‘How do I get one more person to try it, one more store to carry it?’ I thought about how to grow the business in concentric circles, building a super-hot core, and then expanding outside of that region. That’s how Wegmans did it.”
Now, in addition to Whole Foods and Wegmans, Kirby’s products are on shelves in major retailers such as Costco, Kroger (after six years of pitching), Target, and Sprouts, among other stores. In September, Ithaca Hummus launches in Walmart.
Ithaca Hummus’ success formula: Letting customer needs lead, scouring social media for trends, and pursuing partnerships with beloved brands
One key to the company’s success has been partnering with beloved brands selling popular products. After Kirby picked up on a social media trend of some people favoring olive oil over seed oils, he got the idea to create an olive-oil-flavored hummus.
Social media is a great place to hunt for trends about people’s dietary preferences, he said. That led to Kirby approaching olive oil company Graza about a collaboration.
“Graza’s entire audience is very passionate,” he said. In February, Ithaca Hummus debuted its olive oil and sea salt flavor in partnership with Graza. The product is now among the top-selling dips at Whole Foods, said Kirby. In the first quarter of 2026, Ithaca Hummus will launch another product in collaboration with a popular brand.
Still, while it’s important to follow trends, don’t get caught up in fads and watching what your competitor is doing, Kirby warned.
“Figure out what you’re all about and relentlessly focus on that,” he said. Critical to Ithaca Hummus building its base of dedicated customers has been an obsession with quality, scrutinizing every ingredient, and being transparent about refusing to take shortcuts.
“People are drawn to that authenticity and that realness,” he said. “When a brand does things on behalf of their consumers, and not just on behalf of their business, they get recognized.”
If they do it long enough, he added, it draws a crowd because it’s a rare occurrence. “Who is the customer, and what do they want from us? We’re obsessed with questions like that, and we’re always evolving closer to what we think our consumer wants.”
Marketing campaigns pull in customers by exploring key concepts that go beyond hummus
The brand has worked methodically to create authentic marketing campaigns that connect consumers to concepts broader than chickpea paste. For example, around a year ago, it launched its “Tastes Outside Your Comfort Zone” campaign, which encourages culinary adventure.
“It’s not necessarily about hummus, it’s more about the ethos of ‘I’m not afraid to try new stuff,’” Kirby said. “We want to celebrate people who try new things,” he said. “And we want to be the new thing that you try.”
Two years ago, the brand quietly launched another marketing effort: the Tub Club. Ithaca Hummus worked with retail marketing platform Aisle to print codes inside the bottom of each hummus tub. Customers who discover the hidden code scan it, and once enrolled in the club, the brand will Venmo the customer the full price of one tub if they buy two. Customers who share the club with friends get free Ithaca Hummus products.
“If you can get someone to tell two friends, and then they tell two friends, it has this spider web of a network effect,” said Kirby. “It’s a way to accelerate word of mouth and reward our fans. We never did a lot of pushing with it. I think it will just build, and we’re OK with letting that happen.”
With all of Ithaca Hummus’ success, Kirby has intentionally avoided pursuing venture capital money, though the brand’s co-manufacturer and other brands have invested in the company. “We have no boss and no investors telling me what to do,” he said. “To this day, we write our own story.”
For founders just starting out, Kirby said, be prepared to play an endurance game.
“Businesses don’t fail,” he said. “Founders quit. Make sure you’re passionate about your business and that you’d be doing it even if you weren’t getting paid. There has to be a component of ‘I feel good doing this,’ like I did when I went to that farmers market and people’s faces lit up. You need to find something about your business that will keep you in the game longer than anybody else.”
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