High carry-over was expected to weigh on chickpea acres this year, but rising demand for hummus could change that picture
Growing North American demand for hummus should benefit Canadian chickpea growers as the Middle Eastern dip finds its way onto more and more grocery shelves.
Chickpeas were highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal story titled “Hummus Is Conquering America.” It noted health-conscious consumers are driving demand for hummus, with sales for the chickpea-based dip up 25 per cent or more in the past two years.
Most of the U.S. chickpea crop is grown in the Pacific Northwest, but production is increasing along the eastern seaboard. Sabra Dipping (50 per cent owned by PepsiCo) is a major producer of hummus and recently announced plans to expand its plant in Virginia.
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“It’s a very interesting, high-value opportunity for growers,” said Carl Potts, executive director of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
The CDC Frontier variety of kabuli chickpea grown in Saskatchewan is used extensively in producing the dip, he said, adding companies purchasing chickpeas for hummus are also showing interest in improved varieties well suited to Saskatchewan.
Canada grew 158,000 tonnes of chickpeas on 200,000 acres last year, mostly in Saskatchewan, and the U.S. had a similar-size crop, producing 150,000 tonnes on 206,000 acres. But while American producers are forecast to seed 214,300 acres this year, StatsCan expects Canadian seeding to decline to 155,000 acres.
Most Canadian chickpeas are still exported offshore, but that could change, said Potts.
“That is a market that is growing faster than the overall growth consumption in the export market,” he said.
Canada has more than enough chickpeas to work with for the time being. Chickpea supplies in the country, as of March 31, came in at 111,000 tonnes, according to StatsCan data. That’s the largest stocks for that time of year since 2004.
However, while larger supplies have caused prices to slip from their highs of a year ago, chickpeas remain very attractive and pencil in very well in those areas best suited to growing the crop, said Potts.
Bids for large-diameter kabuli chickpeas are currently as high as 41 cents per pound, according to the latest Prairie Ag Hotwire data, with desi varieties priced around 27 cents per pound.
Potts said 200,000 acres could be planted this year if the weather co-operates — with 90 per cent likely to be kabuli varieties, used to make hummus, and the remainder in the smaller desi varieties, which are primarily sold to India.
