OUR HUMMUS IS NOT HO-HUM
OUR MISSION
Fresh is our focus. At The Tomato Head, we hold fast to the adage that you are what you eat. And we are committed to a truth that we live every time we walk into the kitchen: our way of healthy eating isn’t boring, and it’s never bland. That’s why we serve you the kind of food that we serve to our own family – food that’s nurturing and flavorful, less processed, and free from preservatives and other chemical additives that defy pronunciation. Tomato Head Hummus is made with a promise: It will be fresh, good, and good for you. That’s why we started and why we keep going.
Our story, like our food, starts from scratch.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
In 1990, eleven years after arriving in the US as an unaccompanied minor, Mahasti Vafaie opened a restaurant, and her passion for cooking came to life. Using the skills and appreciation for flavor she learned by helping cook family meals alongside her mother and with her grandmother, in a dirt floor kitchen in Iran, Mahasti created her own sauces, breads, and hummus – wildly popular recipes that remain the foundation of her cooking today. Driven by a passion for creating healthy, flavorful food made without artificial, unpronounceable ingredients, Mahasti’s recipes are built on the principle that better ingredients mean better health. Mahasti’s 30-year quest for bold flavors and inventive combinations comes alive and thrives in our hummus.
BECOMING TOMATO HEAD
We began this journey over 30 years ago as the Flying Tomato, and though we served on paper plates and with plastic forks, our food was always fresh – even our breads, dressings and desserts were made in house every morning. And while we’ve largely left behind all that plastic in favor of more sustainable alternatives, we’ve nurtured the tradition of creating food that’s fresh, flavorful, and wholesome. And making it that way every day.
BRINGING FRESH FOOD BEYOND OUR WALLS
Early in our history, our Original Hummus grabbed the spotlight because it was fresh, bold and flavorful. We call it unsubtle – our guests called it delicious and for years asked if they could find it in stores. In 2016, we obliged and launched Tomato Head Hummus with our original chunky restaurant style and four additional flavors: Beet, Carrot, Black Bean Sriracha, and Classic.
SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY
Because we’re all in this together, we share. We remain committed to improving the lives of our neighbors, especially the less fortunate among us. We created “the Loving Spoonful” program to partner with charitable nonprofits throughout East Tennessee. Through this program for the past 19 years we’ve been donating 3 cases of fruit to our local food bank second harvest food bank for their school backpack program,. We partner with Mobile Meals to help feed our community’s homebound seniors, and we provide in-kind donations to help those groups in their fundraising efforts to help address and ease the suffering across our community.
MEET OUR AMAZING TEAM
MAHASTI
Founder
SCOTT
COO
JOHN
President
HAYLEY
Production Manager