Baltimore County-based Wild Pea Hummous is now an official brand partner with McCormick, whose company logo can now be found on its Old Bay Hummous.
Although Wild Pea has been selling Old Bay Hummous since the company’s founding in 2011, this marks a formal partnership between the companies and allows Wild Pea to promote its hummus as such.
“We’re more marketable. We can play with the big boys now,” said Wild Pea owner Blake Wollman. “I don’t think we’re some local mom-and-pop company anymore. We’re more established.”
When Wollman started making his own homemade hummus in 2003, using Old Bay was a no-brainer.
“The number one, most sought-out flavor in Baltimore is Old Bay,” he said.
Along with the new partnership came the launch of the Wild Snacker, a package with two ounces of Old Bay Hummous and a small bag of Popcorners popcorn chips. Wollman also redesigned his labels and launched new flavors, Plain Jane (a traditional hummus) and Pineapple Jalapeño.
The partnership with McCormick took about a year to negotiate and included various contracts and audits. It was solidified about a month ago, Wollman said.
Wild Pea Hummous is currently in stores in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Wollman hopes the new partnership will help his company expand out West.
Wild Pea operates out of a 5,000-square-foot facility in the Randallstown area with about eight full-time workers.
