Oasis Refreshes Retail Name and Packaging, Launches New Website as it Expands Hy-Vee Reach, Enters Costco

The Iowa City restaurant will continue to be Oasis Falafel, but the products on grocery store shelves will be sold under the name Oasis Street Food.

March 24, 2021 – Iowa City’s Oasis brand will have a refreshed name and packaging design as well as a new website as it expands its grocery store presence in the Midwest.

“We’re excited to announce our hummus, as well as any other future products we sell at grocery stores, will carry the name Oasis Street Food,” said Co-founder Naftaly Stramer. “We did this to differentiate ourselves on the shelves and as a nod to our food cart origins and the simplicity of our products.”

Our name is evolving, but what hasn’t changed is the healthy, high-quality ingredients that go into the products, said Co-Founder Ofer Sivan. “We’ve always been proud that our hummus has a delicious, creamy texture and that it has no preservatives and is made in small batches. None of that has changed.”

The newly launched Oasis Street Food hummus is now available to more consumers in Hy-Vees spanning seven Midwestern states. In the next month, it will be available for the first time at the Coralville, Iowa Costco, and it remains available at other Iowa-based locations such as New Pioneer Co-op, John’s Grocery, Fareway, Natural Grocers, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and dozens of other locations.

“We feel so grateful that so many people love our hummus,” Stramer said. “We started all of this in 2004, with a conversation in the Ped Mall in Iowa City about wanting to have the authentic taste of hummus here in Iowa. To see it connect with so many people and to see it grow the way it has is amazing to us.”

That conversation led Stramer and Sivan to open Oasis Falafel restaurant in Iowa City’s northside neighborhood, where they’ve been perfecting hummus and other Mediterranean products for more than 15 years.

What’s driving demand for their in-store products? As people look to eat more healthy foods, and as the desire for local, vegan, vegetarian, preservative-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and high-protein superfoods grows, Oasis Street Food hummus fits the bill. “It’s great as a snack, appetizer, entree, spread, dip, or dessert,” Sivan said. “You can eat it anywhere: in your car, at the park, at your desk. You can eat it with a spoon, with your fingers, on a pita, or with chips.

As Oasis started to see their hummus grow in popularity in the stores, they partnered with the EDC (Entrepreneurial Development Center) in Cedar Rapids and Meld Marketing in Coralville to take their brand to the next level. “EDC helped us think strategically about how to grow the grocery store side of our business,” Stramer said. “And Meld has worked with other grocery store brands and packaging. They are helping us share our story and stay true to who we are as we enter this new period of growth. We will also continue to have support from Little Village Creative Services. It’s a great collaborative effort.”

Oasis Street Food will also package its pita under the new name. As the owners look to the future, their goal is to introduce more products to their store-based product line in the coming years. “We may not be able to build more restaurants right now, but what we can do is find ways to help more customers enjoy our hummus at home any time,” Stramer said.

Stramer and Sivan agree that Oasis would not have been as successful without its customers. “They were the ones who pushed from the beginning to get us into stores,” Stramer said. “They wanted to have greater access to our hummus. We’re so thankful for that. That customers love our products and continue to enjoy them with friends and family is what means the most to us.”