Fresh thinking fresher flavours

Consumer demand for healthy foods is accelerating growth at our Australian chilled dips and snacks business, Yumi’s.

Yumi’s, which supplies major retailers and foodservice customers with traditional hummus, vegetable dips, falafels and vegetable bites, was acquired by George Weston Foods in September 2018.

Meeting evolving trends

Its enviable compound sales growth rate of 20% over the past three years reflects the evolution in Australia of at-home entertaining, the trend for healthier eating, the popularity of Mediterranean-style foods, and declining meat consumption.

Yumi’s was founded in 1989 by Michael and Benjamin ‘Yumi’ Friedman who have remained with the business since it joined our family last year. It initially started out as a fish shop serving Melbourne’s Jewish community but soon expanded its range. The team has grown to about 170 people, all passionate about their products. Australian-grown chickpeas and ‘fresh-from-farm’ vegetables, like beetroot and capsicum, are cooked and roasted on site and then generously added to hummus to flavour classic dip varieties.

Traditional Jewish family recipes for classic dips handed down from ‘Aunty Chumy’, and for mayonnaise and fish dips courtesy of ‘Grandfather Hershel’, are still used today, ensuring authenticity and quality. Because the dips are made to Jewish kosher standards they are dairy and gluten free and include few, if any, additives.

The team at Yumi’s is continually looking for opportunities to bring innovation to the category and takes pride in partnering with retailers to develop a great pipeline of new vegetable flavours. New products are first trialled and then rotated in store to meet customer desire for taste, adventure and variety.

Premium innovations

In February 2019, Yumi’s released a new premium pulse dips range which has been very well received. The idea behind these dips was to create something on-trend (with lentils, peas and beans being very popular), that could attract a higher price, and would still deliver to the brand’s kosher requirements.

Yumi’s has also recently delivered new products in the exciting snacking consumer segment. These products, such as a ‘snack pack’ containing hummus and crackers, work well both as healthy and tasty school lunchbox alternatives and ‘on the go’ snacks.

The business relies extensively on social media to drive awareness and has an active and loyal following on Facebook and Instagram.