One product making a big impact among buyers in the US pavilion was a range of shelf-stable houmous dips from ZBI.

It sounds simple enough, but the Wild Garden range took four years to develop and is said to be the first ambient houmous product on the market.

The range is the brainchild of Nemer Ziyad, whose company specialises in importing and distributing foods from the Middle East.

“We have always sold houmous,” said Ziyad (pictured). “But I always envisaged taking it and turning it into a mainstream US product. This will be the next salsa.”

The dips have an 18-month shelf life and are GMO-free.