#TheProducer - Hannah from ChicP

A great cook launched a couple of years ago a hummus brand called ChicP! Not like any other hummus brand, Hannah, the founder, is using vegetables and fruits surplus to make savoury and sweet hummus. They are colourful, delicious and available on our sustainable grocery eshop!

1. Could you explain us how you make the hummus?

It is really simple!

First, we have to prepare the dried chickpeas. We add them in a bowl, cover it with a clean towel and let them soak overnight. Drain the water and rinse the beans before cooking. After cooking the chickpeas, we mix them with all the raw vegetable surplus that we have :) Ready in just 10 minutes!

3. Where do you source your vegetables from?

We started at local markets and the New Covent Garden market next to Vauxhall but now we source our vegetables and fruits from surplus at the New Spitafields wholesale market.

4. How did you get the idea of using vegetable surplus for making hummus?

I used to be a cook for private events and helped in the kitchen of big companies. The quantity of food wasted in hospitality is huge and I was very sensitive to it. I would often convert the leftover Ottolenghi type salads into dips for the next meal.

Thanks to the support of my relatives, I thought I could bring to market a hummus that is healthy and with a special commitment to reducing food waste. Hummus is becoming increasingly popular. It is easy to make, to create new recipes and goes with any meal. It was the right time to go for it!

3. Could you give us some nutritive information about your hummus?

Our hummus is really healthy - about half fat as in any other traditional hummus.

For instance, in the "carrot, ginger and turmeric hummus", you will find lots of vitamin A (plays a vital role in bone growth, reproduction and immune system health as well as eyesight) and a host of other powerful health benefits including beautiful skin, cancer prevention, and anti-aging thanks to the carrot. The sage is antioxidant, anti-inflammatory. A lot of good things for your body.

4. How many vegetables from surplus do you have for each kilo of hummus?

We use about 400 grams of vegetable surplus per kilo :-)

5. What is the shelf life and how do you recommend people to store the hummus?

Fresh is best but you can keep the hummus for one week in the fridge.

6. Any recipe to share?

You can eat hummus at any time of the day. For breakfast, there is the sweet hummus with Banana, Avocado and Cacao that is delicious with porridge or in smoothie. Then, the savoury hummus are delicious as an addition to any meal. I mix the herby one (my favorite :) with a little bit of olive oil and it makes a delicious sauce for pasta!

7. What is your long term plan Hannah?

I would love to have my own cafe! Maybe in East london or Soho or South East London - we would cook hummus and use everything from surplus as a side such as bread and cakes.

We also have a campaing going on with Tesco. By pledging to the campaign, you can help us to make ChicP become nationwide; this will also enable us to source an increasing supply of surplus vegetables which will directly aid British farmers. The result will mean you can dip and dunk guilt free any time you like!

We can recommend enough the hummus of Hannah! To support this really nice entrepreneur and great cook: https://backit.tesco.com/p/chicp

Thanks a lot Hannah!!

To buy the hummus of Hannah:

Visit our sustainable grocery eshop, we deliver by bicycle in zone 1 and 2 in London.

Wholefoods Market UK, As Nature Intended, Fortnum & Mason, Rude Health Cafe, Pickles of London, Sonny's Kitchen, Soho Farmhouse, Sourced Market, Eat 17 and Selfridges & Harrods from January and with Elysia for catering your events ;)

More information on www.chicp.co.uk