CLOVER, Va. – Hummus, that staple of many Middle Eastern diets, is taking on big tobacco, but not in the way you’d expect. The increasing demand in the United States for the dip has Virginia tobacco farmers growing chickpeas on the request of Sabra, which produces hummus in a Richmond plant, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Normally grown in the Pacific Northwest, chickpeas are the main ingredient in hummus. However, Sabra Dipping Co., a joint venture of Strauss Group Ltd. in Israel and PespiCo Inc., wanted to have a secondary source for the legume. “We need to establish the supply chain to meet our growing demand,” said Tulin Tuzel, chief technology officer for Sabra. “We want to reduce the risk of bad weather or concentration in one region. If possible, we also want to expand the growing seasons.” 

The popularity of hummus marks a shift in American diets that are looking for healthier snacks. Refrigerated flavored spreads — which hummus dominates — have grown in sales to $530 million at U.S. food stores in 2012, an 11% bump from 2011, and a 25% advance from 2010, according to IRI.

“Most of the consumers out there still don't know what hummus is,” said Adam Carr, chief executive of Tribe Mediterranean Foods Inc. “We think that there are going to be lots of new users coming to the category.”

With more demand for hummus, planting chickpeas has become more lucrative for farmers. Farmers received on average 35 cents per pound for chickpeas in 2012, a 10-cent jump over the mid-2000s, according to the Agriculture Department. U.S. farmers, including some that used to plant tobacco, will put in close to 215,000 acres of the legume in 2013, a 3% jump from 2012, and five times more than 10 years ago.