Waitrose was the first British supermarket to stock hummus.
The product appeared in Waitrose stores during the 1980s, when it was commonly spelled “houmous” in Britain. This marked an early supermarket introduction of a food that had long been familiar across the Middle East but was still unusual in mainstream British shopping.
Hummus is traditionally made by blending cooked chickpeas with tahini, lemon juice and garlic. It is generally served as a dip or spread, often with pita bread, olive oil, parsley or paprika. Its supermarket popularity later grew alongside wider interest in Middle Eastern cooking.
A common mix-up is confusing the first supermarket to stock hummus with the period when it became widely popular. Waitrose’s early listing came before hummus became a routine fixture across British supermarkets. By 2013, annual UK hummus sales were reported at about £60 million.