“Working in kitchens the place abusive management was the norm positively taught me quite a bit, each about what to not do and in addition the type of chief that I did wish to be,” Chris Kirby, founder and CEO of Ithaca Hummus, tells Entrepreneur. “Early on, I noticed how concern and intimidation created poisonous environments the place creativity and collaboration actually could not exist.”
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Ithaca Hummus. Founder and CEO Chris Kirby.
Kirby graduated from culinary college at North Carolina’s Johnson & Wales College and spent the subsequent seven years working in eating places throughout the nation: in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Austin. Nevertheless, by age 26, he decided the “robust life-style” wasn’t for him. He wished to begin a enterprise of his personal — however doing so required an enormous change and swallowing his delight, he says.
The aspiring entrepreneur moved again to Baltimore to stay along with his mother and father and enrolled in enterprise programs at the local people faculty. Kirby did not have a automotive, so he needed to bike the 15 miles to campus, a backpack filled with books in tow. Regardless of the challenges, Kirby completed the yr with straight As and was accepted on the Cornell College of Lodge Administration.
In his software essay, Kirby wrote that he was “hungry for fulfillment” and supposed to make use of his professors as “free consultants” for his enterprise, demonstrating a transparent focus and ambition that he believes helped him stand aside from different candidates. He arrived on campus in 2013 and set to work instantly.
“The lightbulb went off once I noticed that there was no native Ithaca hummus firm.”
His first cease was the native farmer’s market to search for a spot within the market; he wished to know what wasn’t being made on the town already. “The lightbulb went off once I noticed that there was no native Ithaca hummus firm,” Kirby says, “and I sprang into motion fairly rapidly.” Inside a month, Kirby was promoting his hummus on the farmer’s market. Lemon garlic was the model’s first taste.
“Style is absolutely all the things,” Kirby says. “It is the soul of meals. In my restaurant expertise, it was all the time the freshest, easiest, most unadulterated recipes that have been my favorites. So it wasn’t about, How a lot can I add to this wonderful ingredient? It is, What is the least quantity that I can add to it to make it shine? Mom Nature does all of the exhausting give you the results you want; you simply should make it come by means of.”
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Ithaca Hummus
At first, Ithaca Hummus had no assets or finances to talk of, however the restricted money meant Kirby needed to zero in on what was most necessary — making the most effective product potential, getting individuals to style it and promoting as a lot as he might. To that finish, he rented a kitchen for $250 a month and bought the mandatory provides: large pots, an enormous stick immersion blender, deli cups, a small digital scale and ice cream scoops for portioning out the product.
“Each single [customer] interplay gave me an increasing number of confidence.”
“I had a maniacal deal with gross sales,” Kirby says. “I made the hummus, packed it myself after which spent each weekend promoting at farmer’s markets as a result of I beloved seeing the response on clients’ faces once they tried it for the primary time. And that suggestions acted like a street map for me. Each single interplay gave me an increasing number of confidence to push ahead.”
With no crew or fancy manufacturing gear, Kirby needed to harness “a number of hustle and creativity” to execute his imaginative and prescient. Ithaca Hummus continued to promote out on the farmer’s market each week, and Kirby credit the “unstoppable demand” to the model’s high quality and skill to attach with individuals.
Scaling the enterprise’s manufacturing and packaging course of was one of many largest preliminary challenges. At first, Kirby used deli cups with tamper-evident plastic lids that have been heat-sealed with hair dryers, 10 at a time. Then, Kirby moved the operation into its first business area to maintain tempo with its development and upgraded to a film-sealing automated packaging line, which got here “with an incredible quantity of complications.”
“I might spend days at a time troubleshooting, fixing it [and] feeling the stress.”
The sealer would typically break down, and with out a fast repair or the funds to rent a mechanic, Kirby turned to Google searches and YouTube movies to determine what was flawed. “I might spend days at a time troubleshooting, fixing it [and] feeling the stress of [thinking], Each minute that this gear was down, the payments stored coming in, and we weren’t producing something to promote,” he says.
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Regardless of the rising pains, Ithaca Hummus stored increasing, finally touchdown in main retailers like Wegman’s and Entire Meals, the place its merchandise continued to promote effectively in aggressive environments. The model hit its first eight-figure income yr in 2020 and has seen 40% year-over-year development since, even promoting 10 million tubs of hummus in 2024. What’s extra, Ithaca Hummus is on monitor to take care of that development fee in 2025, which implies a projected $50 million annual income and over $150 million lifetime income.
“I’ve labored actually exhausting to construct a tradition that is the exact opposite of what I skilled.”
By all of it, Kirby has utilized the management classes realized from his restaurant days to foster a piece atmosphere the place staff really feel snug sufficient to be inventive — a key to the model’s long-term success.
“I’ve realized that true management is about empathy, clear communication and creating an atmosphere the place individuals really feel valued and empowered,” Kirby says. “So I’ve labored exhausting to construct a tradition that is the exact opposite of what I skilled in a number of these kitchens. I would like my crew to really feel secure to share concepts, take dangers and study from errors with out concern of being punished.”
