NEW YORK – Banza, the popular brand of chickpea-based foods, announced today the arrival of Banza pizza in several national retailers as part of the company’s retail expansion strategy.
Banza’s four cheese and margherita pizzas, along with the brand’s plain pizza crust, will join the brand’s cult-favorite chickpea pasta on Walmart shelves beginning Aug. 31. Banza pizzas originally launched in October 2020 in Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Target.
Banza is also expanding in Stop & Shop, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer, which will increase the brand’s retail footprint in more than 8,000 stores nationwide. The growth comes in less than a year of the product being on the market.
The pizza is also available through the e-commerce channels Thrive Market, Fresh Direct, Amazon.com and the Banza website.
Banza is the pioneer of chickpea-based pizza products, and it released the first-ever commercially available chickpea pizza crust. The products contain 1.5 times the protein and 2 times the amount of fiber than traditional and other better-for-you pizza crusts, in addition to being lower in net carbs and sodium. A rival of cauliflower-based crusts that often use cheese and egg, Banza’s crust is plant-based and utilizes ingredients such as chickpeas, olive oil, yeast and oregano to deliver a crispy crust with a doughy center.
As consumer demand climbs for better-for-you products, with the total BFY pizza category having grown 41% in the last two years, Banza is hard at work earning its slice of the pizza pie market. Since the USDA recommends that everyone eats chickpeas, beans and lentils 1-3 times per week but only 20% of Americans do so, the brand is committed to giving consumers a reason to love legumes.
“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, COO 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.”
