Oasis expands away from Iowa City

Oasis Street Food goes west

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City-based hummus company is finding new momentum with an expansion to eastern Nebraska.

Oasis Street Food, known for its preservative-free hummus, first expanded to store shelves with one Costco in Iowa. Now, Oasis is present in three Iowa Costcos and Nebraska Costcos, where hummus lovers can find the product as far west as Lincoln.

Although the company already had product at Omaha Hy-Vees and Natural Grocers, the expansion will be a big step in volume.

“Our hummus has proved to be popular in both metro areas and in college communities, so these locations are ideal for us,” co-founder Naftaly Stramer said.

Stramer and co-founder Ofer Sivan started Oasis Street Food in 2004 after they couldn’t locally find the Mediterranean food they craved. With family recipes, they sold hummus and falafel from a food cart in Iowa City, later opening a brick-and-mortar location on Iowa City’s north side.

Over time, they worked with the University of Nebraska Lincoln Food Processing Center, which provided assistance with ingredients and shelf life — an invaluable help before they opened a second Oasis Falafel in Omaha in 2018.

“We attribute our growth to our fans who are known for asking for our products at stores across the Midwest,” Sivan said. “It really shows that people want to eat more healthy foods. As the desire for local, vegan, vegetarian, preservative-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and high-protein superfoods grows, our hummus fits the bill.

Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com