To celebrate National Hummus Day, Sabra Dipping Company naturally encouraged people to eat hummus—but also had consumers make art in the process. The hummus brand partnered with experiential artist and designer Emilie Baltz to present Traces: The Unofficial Meal, an interactive eating experience, at the Design Junction's Dwell on Design.
The experience and design event, which took place on Monday at ArtBeam gallery, was part of New York's citywide NYCxDesign, an annual celebration of global design that runs through Tuesday.
Designers, media, and the public were invited to participate in the "eatstallation," in which Baltz presented various ingredients—including hummus, pita, veggies, and condiments—in an artistic presentation on tables in a pop-up kitchen. Participants were then encouraged to use their hands to create abstract "paintings" with the ingredients and eat throughout the process.
Eugenio Perrier, chief marketing officer at Sabra, said the brand partnered with Baltz because it was attracted to her installation idea of combining art with food. The activation, which was filmed in 360-degree video, also served as an extension of the brand's new Unofficial Meal campaign.
"The purpose of the campaign is about bring people together in a simple and compelling way around the table. Hummus is one of those few foods where people are eating with their own hands from the same bowl," Perrier said. "We believe this installation was a perfect way to bring to life this experience and the emotions we're trying to convey. It speaks to it perfectly and it's about creating a very spontaneous situation."
This is also the first time the brand has activated in an artistic way. "Hummus is a very flexible and versatile product," says Perrier. "It's suitable to played with different spices and flavors, and this was a great way to have fun with the product."
In addition to the installation, Sabra also created social media buzz and gave out coupons and recipes to consumers for National Hummus Day.
