Haverhill's Cedar's Foods Gives $50,000 a Year to Cancer Research

Cedar's Foods, the Haverhill-based Mediterranean foods maker, has given $50,000 each year to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation since 2020 and carries the foundation's pink ribbon logo on its hommus containers during October, the Boston Globe reported on October 13.

The company said the giving was prompted by employees who have survived breast cancer or are being treated for it. During October it is also distributing hommus snack packs to Merrimack Health sites in Haverhill, Lawrence and Methuen as a gesture toward local health workers.

"We think nationally but act locally," said Aimee Tsakirellis, executive vice president of marketing at Cedar's. She said community support is "a pillar of who we are," citing donations of thousands of pounds of hommus to residents during the pandemic and sponsorship of events in the Merrimack Valley and elsewhere in New England.

Now in its third generation of family ownership, Cedar's was started in the 1970s by Abe and Layla Hanna, who emigrated from Lebanon and began selling Layla's hommus through a local DeMoulas Market. The 40-year-old company says it is the largest U.S. producer of the chickpea spread, making close to 150 million pounds a year, with products in more than 15,000 stores nationwide. An 8-ounce tub of its original hommus sells for $2.99 to $3.99.

This story was first reported by The Boston Globe.