Banza, a growing maker of chickpea-based comfort foods headquartered in New York, New York, unveiled the arrival of Banza Pizza at several national retailers as part of its retail expansion strategy. Banza’s Four Cheese, Margherita and Plain Crust Pizzas have joined Banza Pasta on shelves at Walmart.
Banza Pizza originally launched in October 2020 in Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Target. The Walmart rollout shortly follows Banza Pizza’s expansion in Stop & Shop, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer, which helped increase its retail footprint to more than 8,000 stores nationwide in under one year on the market. Banza Pizza is also now available on Thrive Market, Fresh Direct, Amazon and eatbanza.com as part of the company’s growing e-commerce presence.
Banza Pizza, the first commercial chickpea-based crust available in the U.S., offers 1.5x the protein, 2x the fiber and fewer net carbs and sodium than other traditional and better-for-you pizza crusts. Unlike 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 deliver on the crispy crust and doughy center people crave in a slice.
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 percent in the past two years.
“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.”
Chickpeas have many benefits to both human health and the environment, and the latest USDA dietary guidelines recommend people eat chickpeas, beans and lentils one to three times per week – however, only 20 percent of the country is doing so. The rollout of Banza Pizza in grocery stores not only allows Banza to reach more consumers, but offers new ways for people to eat more chickpeas.
In addition to growing its retail presence, in June, 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.
For more information and for a store locator, visit eatbanza.com.
