Built with Heart: The Story Behind Ramona’s Houmous and the Love That Powers It

In this episode of Oh For Food’s Sake, we welcome the “Houmous Queen” herself, Ramona Hazan, founder of Mediterranean Dip Co and the face behind the now much-loved brand, Ramona’s. Amy and Lucy dive into the true story behind Ramona’s 20-year “overnight” success—spoiler alert: it’s packed with relentless perseverance, genuine love for food, and a fair amount of schlepping chickpeas around London in a red Peugeot. Ramona shares the reality of building a food business from scratch, surviving countless rejections, and finally breaking into a retail landscape dominated by own-label giants. We cover her journey from computer engineering in South Africa to becoming a staple name in the dip’s aisle, the challenges and grit behind scaling up, and why staying close to your brand’s heart matters more than ever. We don’t shy away from the real talk: Ramona gets candid about failures (seaweed houmous, anyone?), mental resilience, the importance of profit in business (not just awards or hype!), and learning to take up space as a woman in leadership. This episode is jam-packed with brutal honesty, practical advice for food industry pros, and plenty of laughs. Whether you’re knee-deep in new product development or just contemplating your first pitch to a supermarket, there’s a dose of inspiration and reality check here for everyone.