Taunton hummus maker acquired

Tribe Mediterranean Foods, a Taunton pioneer in the hummus business, was acquired today for $57 million by the Osem Group, a Nestle company based in Israel.

Osem produces and distributes food in the United States and Europe and Tribe has a popular line of natural and organic hummus. Tribe will expand its Mediterranean food line. Its operations in North America will be incorporated into Osem’s Prepared Food division.

“Osem’s growth strategy is based on continuing to grow its business in the Israeli market through innovations and entering into new categories, as well as on developing its international operations in the two areas where we have a significant competitive advantage: salads and meat substitutes,” Gezy Kaplan, Osem’s Group CEO said in a statement.

Tribe was established in 1993. It offers 17 all-natural and 5 organic products. The Taunton company built a state-of-the-art hummus factory in 2004 and has showed steady growth, with projected sales of $32 million for 2008.

The Tribe website can be found here, and Osem is here.

(By Jonnelle Marte, Globe Correspondent)