Banza, the New York-based producer of comfort foods out of chickpeas, including pasta, pizza, rice, and mac & cheese, announces the rollout of Banza Pizza into several US retailers, which now has retail presence in over 8,000 outlets nationwide.
Banza Pizza originally launched in October 2020 in Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Target, followed by expansion into Stop & Shop, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer. The chickpea pizza is now also available at Thrive Market, Fresh Direct, Amazon and eatbanza.com.
Consumer demand for better-for-you alternatives to comfort foods in grocery stores continues to increase, with the total better-for-you pizza category having grown 41% in the past two years. Banza Pizza reports that it is the fastest-turning frozen pizza crust brand in the US.
In addition to growing its retail presence, in June 2021, Banza announced its first restaurant partnership with Oath Pizza as a permanent menu offering. Banza’s chickpea crust replaced the pizza chain’s previous gluten-free and cauliflower crusts and marked the first time a chickpea pizza crust was available at a national pizza chain.
“Our mission is to inspire people to eat more chickpeas and other beans because of their benefits to human health and the environment,” said Mike Tarullo, Chief Operating Officer at Banza. “This means making nutritious foods available everywhere people shop, and in every aisle of the store. We’re proud to have made a better-for-you pizza that delivers on the classic pizza experience people love, while helping people get more chickpeas into their diets.”
Banza Pizza offers 1.5x the protein, 2x the fiber and fewer net carbs and sodium than other traditional and better-for-you pizza crusts. Unlike many cauliflower-based pizza crusts, which often use cheese and eggs, Banza’s crust is made of whole, plant-based ingredients like chickpeas, olive oil, yeast and oregano to create a crispy crust and doughy center.
For more information on Banza and for Banza’s store locator, visit eatbanza.com.
