The Guardian reports on concerns of a global chickpea shortage, threatening the supply of hummus.
According to the The Global Pulse Confederation supplies of chickpeas could drop around 20% this year.
Sanctions on Russia following their invasion of Ukraine have interrupted shipments as they are one of the top chickpea exporters accounting for around a quarter of global trade. Ukraine has been unable to seed its crop, removing 50,000 tonnes of chickpea exports. Meanwhile, the conflict caused a boom in demand, outweighing the already limited supply.
Bad weather conditions, like flooding have affected the chickpea crop in top exporting countries such as US, Mexico, Australia. US stocks are down more than 10% from 2021 with farmers planting 5% fewer acres this year.
The pulse is an important source of protein for some in countries like India, Bangladesh and the Middle East region, where households are already struggling to cope with the increase in food import costs.
In the other parts of the world, there has already been an impact. In the UK, prices of hummus products in the main British supermarkets have seen a 100% increase since January. In the US, chickpeas are 12% more expensive than last year and around 17% higher prior to the pandemic.
