Food & Beverage
Oath Pizza's new 'chick': Brand drops cauliflower for chickpea crust
Oath Pizza is pledging its allegiance to the lowly garbanzo bean as its latest vegan, gluten-free pizza crust option.
June 8, 2021 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group
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.
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| Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans as they are sometimes called, are the base of Oath Pizza's Banza crust. (iStock) |
The legume-based crust replaces Oath Pizza's cauliflower crust, which has been dropped from the menu. Oath Pizza CEO Drew Kellogg said the brand made the move because customers have been asking for a gluten-free and vegan option.
"It's one of the most frequent requests our team receives (requests for a gluten-free vegan crust) and we found Banza to be the perfect partner to meet this key customer need," Kellogg told Pizza Marketplace. "Our culinary team was blown away by the delicious crispiness of Banza's chickpea crust."
Unlike typical cauliflower-based pizzas, the Banza crust does not use cheese or eggs as binders — animal-derived products that are off-limits to vegans. Instead, Banza is made with chickpeas, olive oil, yeast and oregano.
Banza said its pies are selling at a rate of two per minute. Interestingly, the company said that it found that half of those who purchase the chickpea crust in groceries have never bought frozen pizzas before. The company believes that fact demonstrates that their chickpea option is actually drawing consumers to the frozen pizza category. The expectation is that Banza's partnership with Oath Pizza will drive similar growth for the pizza restaurant and delivery experience.
"People want to feel good about the food they eat," Banza COO Mike Tarullo told Pizza Marketplace. "We used chickpeas to make our pizza crust because they're not only better for you, but also can provide the crispy crust and doughy center you look for in a slice.
"For many people, existing better-for-you options left something to be desired in the actual pizza experience. We're excited to report such a high percentage of folks who are new to the category and expect that to translate into foodservice, where people who may not have gone out for pizza for diet or allergen reasons will now be excited to do so. … Our team has been in conversations with other foodservice operators who, like Oath, share many of our core values, and we look forward to meeting and working with additional partners."
Banza's presence at Oath Pizza comes seven months after the chickpea pizza's grocery launch. The company said the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends people eat chickpeas, beans and lentils up to three times per week, although currently only about 20% of Americans do so.
Banza pizza crust at Oath is available as a create-your-own pie and is also available for nationwide shipping as part of the Oath Pizza Party Packs on oathpizza.com, allowing patrons to make their own pizza creations at home.
About S.A. Whitehead
Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.
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