How Banza is expanding its product portfolio of better-for-you comfort foods

Earlier this month, chickpea pasta maker Banza announced its first foray into breakfast foods with a line of frozen waffles.

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“You might as well have an audacious goal and work backwards from that vision.”

Banza debuts frozen waffles made with chickpeas

The launch marks the brand’s foray into the breakfast category and its second offering in the freezer case, following the introduction of frozen pizza three years ago.

Banza launches cascatelli made from chickpeas

Banza is launching Banza Cascatelli by Sporkful, a better-for-you and gluten-free version of the new cascatelli pasta shape after partnering with Dan Pashman, creator and host of The Sporkful podcast, who spent several years researching and designing the novel pasta shape. Cascatelli features sauce-holding crevices, a slightly rough texture and a half-tube shape with ruffled edges.

ABC's News highlighted Banza as an everyday meal option perfect for the holidays

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Banza teams with Beyond Meat and Follow Your Heart to launch two new pizza's

Banza announced that two new varieties of its chickpea pizza are hitting shelves nationwide starting this month. Joining Banza's line of high-fiber, high-protein chickpea pizzas are Supreme, a spin on a traditional sausage pizza featuring Beyond Sausage® Italian Crumbles, and Plant-Based Cheese, a vegan pie made with Follow Your Heart® dairy-free cheese. Banza's Supreme and Plant-Based Cheese Pizzas will begin rolling out in national retailers and e-commerce platforms including Kroger, Market Basket, Thrive Market, FreshDirect, Amazon and EatBanza.com today.

In less than a year on the market, Banza Pizza has grown its retail footprint by more than 300%, expanded into food service through a partnership with Oath Pizza, and become the fastest-turning frozen pizza crust

Banza expands distribution of chickpea-based pizza to 8,000 stores

Banza's chickpea-based pizza will soon be available in 8,000+ stores including national distribution with Walmart.

Launched in October 2020 at Whole Foods, Wegmans and Target, Banza Pizza has expanded its retail presence by 306% in less than one year including recent rollouts at Stop & Shop, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer. Banza Pizza is also sold direct-to-consumer on Thrive Market, Fresh Direct, Amazon and eatbanza.com.

Banza publishes study focusing on dinnertime for parents of children

A new study by Banza digs into the realities and daily obstacles that make dinnertime stressful for parents. Between meal prep, clean-up, busy schedules, picky eaters, and the pressure to serve nutritious meals, it's easy for dinner to quickly become stressful . Banza's Dinnertime Confessions Survey found that nearly all parents (89%) say there is at least one thing that causes them stress when it comes to dinnertime—including the inevitable "what's for dinner?" question.

Banza's Survey spoke to parents across the U.S. to figure out what's causing all this stress, and to help identify ways to make it more enjoyable.

Banza Announces Partnership with Oath Pizza for Chickpea Pizza Crust

Oath Pizza has partnered with chickpea pizza crust maker, Banza, to bring the garbanzo-bean crust to the Boston-based chain's 50-plus stores. The company told Pizza Marketplace that the crust will begin its rollout as a permanent menu item at its stores in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.

Nestlé adds Banza chickpea pasta to Life Cuisine offerings

Nestlé is incorporating Banza chickpea pasta into a pair of its newest Life Cuisine offerings: Triple Cheese Macaroni and Cheese Bowl and its Gluten Free Lifestyle Pasta Bolognese Bowl. The brand said the new varieties cater to popular trends such as high protein, meatless, gluten free and low carb.

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Since 2014, Banza has created more than a dozen chickpea pasta varieties, ahd whose signature bright-orange boxes line the shelves in some 15,000 stores nationwide. After conquering the rice and pasta aisles, Banza has since invaded the frozen food section, introducing ready-made pizza.

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Banza was named to Well+Good's list of top new foods and drinks of 2020. Even if you’re not a big fan of alt-pizza, Jessie Van Amburg, Well+Good’s senior food and health editor, says to still give this one a chance. “I’m famous among my friends for my hatred of cauliflower pizza—I know, I know, I’m a bad health food editor— and usually prefer to just eat the ‘real deal’ rather than substitutes when possible and available. But Banza’s Chickpea Pizza crust is just so damn good that I’ll happily eat it at literally any meal,” she says.

Nosh Best of 2020 Awards

Banza was named a winner in two of Nosh's Best of 2020 Awards categories - Rising Stars and Best New Product. Each year NOSH’s annual Best Of awards honor the individuals, brands and products that have demonstrated excellence during the year and resonance that will extend far beyond the last twelve months. After landing in over 13,000 retailers with its chickpea pasta and expanding into rice alternatives and mac & cheese, the brand entered the increasingly popular plant-based pizza crust space with its chickpea crust pizza at retailers like Target, Whole Foods and Wegmans.

Banza Enters Frozen Pizza Category

After its success with chickpea-based pasta, Banza aims to reinvent another comfort food with chickpeas as the hero ingredient. Banza Pizza is debuting nationwide in Target, Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Heinen’s stores. The products feature a crust made from chickpeas, olive oil, yeast and oregano that has a crispy texture with a sturdy, doughy center, according to the company. Pizza varieties include four-cheese, roasted vegetable and Margherita. The brand also is offering a two-pack of plain crusts.