Goodles and Banza: Two Better-for-You Food Brand Strategy Examples

Executive Summary: Two better-for-you food brand strategy examples, Goodles and Banza, prove that bringing additional benefits like extra protein and fiber (as well as celebrity endorsers) are a recipe for growth.  Both brands are carving out a position in the mac-and-cheese category and the dry pasta category, taking share from Kraft and Barilla. We compare positioning, strategy and taste (with our own at-home taste-test).

Mac-and-Cheese Competitors Feature Fiber, Protein and Hidden Veggies. But How Do They Taste?

Mac-and-cheese is a favorite with kid households, teens and young adults.  Mac-and-cheese in the boxed form is an inexpensive, easy and quick-to-prepare take on the from-scratch macaroni-and-cheese comfort food classic.  It works as a main dish or a side dish, depending on the occasion.

Kraft “blue box” is the category leader, with market share estimated at around 41% in 2024, down from 43% in 2021.  Kraft Foods also markets Velveeta, with an estimated 21% share in 2025, down from 24% in 2021.  Together, the two Kraft Food mac-and-cheese brands account for approximately 60% of the category. 

In the other 40% of the market, we find various competitors, including two better-for-you (BFY) food brand strategy examples: Goodles and Banza.

Goodles Better-for-You Food Brand Strategy Example

Goodles, introduced in 2021 and “born” in Santa Cruz, California, carved out an impressive 4-6% market share in just four years with its BFY mac-and-cheese. 

Goodles website favorably compares the nutrition (i.e., fiber, protein, plant nutrients) from Goodles Cheddy Mac variety to Kraft Blue Box and Annie’s Shells with White Cheddar.  On its package, Goodles claims 14 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber, so that the actual numbers vary slightly but are still advantaged.

Goodles stresses its nutritional advantage, and the name promises it will be good (good-for-you and good tasting).  Goodles get its extra protein from chickpeas, along with its wheat flour. The extra fiber comes from a “special wheat flour with 10 times the fiber.” 

Goodles delivers “hidden vegetables” such broccoli, kale and pumpkin in the popular comfort food.  As we wrote about in Tuning into Mom: Understanding America’s Most Powerful Consumer, hidden vegetables are a time-tested strategy for parents who are looking to get their children to consume vegetables with a kid-pleasing taste and convenient preparation. 

As can be seen from Walmart’s pricing, Goodles is commanding a sizable price premium at more than double Kraft’s blue box, while Annie’s has a more modest 18% premium compared to blue box. 

Despite Goodles’ nutritional advantages, the Yuka App with its 73 million global users still rates the Cheddy Mac variety poor (basically on par with Kraft and Annie’s) because of risky ingredients.  In fairness, Yuka rates Goodles Vegan is Believin’ as 84/100 or “Excellent” with “no risky additives.”  As may be expected, Vegan is Believin’ has lower distribution in large retailers compared to Cheddy Mac and Shella Good.

Says one food industry source,

“Goodles units per store per week were great off the bat.   It is a higher quality than Kraft blue box.  The first time I tried it, I thought it had a bit of a weird taste, but the second time, I couldn’t even tell it was better for you. We buy this all the time in our household and expect our seven month old will be eating it soon.  Really it’s the packaging, that’s half the battle if not more.”

Goodles mac-and-cheese line launched with four flavors, and the brand offers “original macs” in the following varieties:

• Cheddy Mac (creamy cheddar and macaroni) – the top seller
• Shella Good (aged white cheddar and shells)
• Twist My Parm (asiago and parmesan with spirals)
• Mover & Shaker (cacio e pepe inspired mac)

Goodles has microwave cups in the Cheddy Mac and Shella Good varieties.   Goodles’ direct competitor offerings to Kraft’s Deluxe line include:

• Ched Over Heels
• Shell We Dance
• Queso Tell Me More (Tex Mex-style cheddar sauce over shells) 

Additional “dietary preference” choices include:

• Vegan is Believin’ (plant-based white cheddar with spirals)
• Gluten Free Vegan Be Heroes (plant-based cheddar with gluten-free mac)
• Gluten Free Cheddy Mac
• Gluten Free Shella Good 

How Goodles Marketing Succeeds with Plenty of Cheese

To get Goodles off to a strong start, Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot (and her husband Jaron Varsano) co-founded Goodles and promoted the brand heavily. Additional celebrity and athlete endorsers and investors include Klay Thompson, Christina Aguilera and others.

The leadership team has considerable experience with Jen Zeszut as CEO.  Zeszut’s co-founder Paul Earle recruited Deb Luster “the queen of  mac and cheese” and original President of Annie’s (a mac-and-cheese competitor) to serve as part of the founding team.  In 2023, Goodles secured a $13M Series A funding led by LCatterton.  This funding built on 2021 initial seed investment of $6M led by Springdale Ventures and Willow. Another source puts the seed round raise at $27 million.

Fanciful flavor names, bright package colors, and the brand name itself support Goodles’ overall healthy yet playful brand image, as opposed to a hard-core or serious healthy brand image.  Another brand that we are familiar with, Double Good, uses similarly playful flavor names and bright package colors.

Looking across these offerings, it’s evident that the most popular combinations are the creamy cheddar and macaroni (like Kraft blue box top seller) and the white cheddar and shells (like Annie’s top seller). 

In 2023, Goodles entered the dry pasta category with three pasta types: Lucky Penne (Penne); Loopdy-Loos (Cavatappi) and Curveballs (Pipette).   The brand aims to have its neon pink boxes “shake up the sleepy pasta aisle.” It’s unclear how much volume the dry pasta line is delivering as our January 2026 store visit did not find the dry pasta offerings in the mainstream store that we visited.  

As this photo shows, by comparison, the Goodles mac-and-cheese varieties were well represented.

Brand Strategy Example Summary: What’s the Cheddar on Goodles?

For its target consumer who is interested in a bit more nutrition but not overly concerned with additives (i.e., Yuka disciple) or turned off by highly processed foods, Goodles has multiple BFY product points of difference, (e.g., hidden veggies, more fiber, more protein, clean label certification), when compared to traditional competitor.

 Goodles’ playful packaging graphics stand out at shelf, and the fanciful product names support the brand’s image.  Their products are available in the most popular flavor combinations (creamy cheddar and mac, white cheddar and shells).  The Goodles’ brand also claimed a 92% taste advantage vs. leading competitors. Celebrity, athlete and other endorsers get the word out. 

Banza Better-for-You Food Brand Strategy Example

As can be seen in the top shelf of the store set photo above, Banza, in its signature orange package (for the chickpea line), is another nontraditional competitor in the mac-and-cheese category. 

Banza was launched as a more nutritious dry pasta brand in 2014 by brothers Brian and Scott Rudolph.  In 2024, Banza’s growth meant it claimed the number five pasta brand spot in the United States.

In 2016, Banza entered mac-and-cheese, and the Banza brand has also expanded into rice, frozen waffles and frozen pizza. This is the opposite pattern from Goodles, which launched in mac-and-cheese and then expanded into dry pasta.

Banza is best known for chickpea pasta, but as of 2025 also offers brown rice pasta in a green package.  Today, chickpea is still integral to the brand.

On the brand’s website, Banza’s 14 chickpea pasta shapes outpace the five brown rice shapes.  It will be interesting to see if the brown rice options, which were launched in July 2025, catch on in the market.    

While Banza offers both brown rice and chickpea mac-and-cheese, there are 10 chickpea mac-and-cheese types compared to four brown rice types.

Similar to Goodles, while Banza is not all vegan, the brand does offer many vegan products, including pasta, mac-and-cheese and pizza. One food industry expert told me:

“Banza is a solid option with some loyalty, but it came in too early and is just chickpea-based. Definitely has fallen to the wayside in comparison to Goodles.”

Banza’s Health-First Focus

Nutritionally, the Banza brand is certified gluten-free, with a commitment to clean label.  A serving of Banza’s chickpea penne pasta has 20 grams of protein and 13 grams of fiber.   Still, Banza is not the only better-for-you pasta choice.  For another brand strategy example, registered dietician influencer, Lauren Twigge provides an analysis of how Banza compares to other high protein pastas like red lentil (e.g., Barilla makes this) or edamame.

Similar to the clean certification that Goodles carries, Banza’s pasta products carry a “CleanScan Certification” by the Detox Project.  Additionally, the brand promotes dessicant-free chickpea farming.

While both have bright packaging, Banza’s more serious, health-first focus contrasts with Goodles’ more playful BFY take.  Banza focuses on ingredients first (chickpeas, now brown rice) as opposed to the outcomes (e.g., more protein).  In part, this reflects Banza’s origins in the dry pasta category as opposed to Goodles in mac-and-cheese.

Says one young adult purchaser of the Banza white cheddar shells package:

“Banza is trying to assure an adult that this is a health food, whereas Goodles and Annie’s are for children.”

Why Banza’s Marketing Is a Bit More Dry-Aged

Like Goodles, Banza has celebrity endorsers and a registered dietician program.  Celebrity endorsers include Kristen Bell, Drew Barrymore, Emmy Rossum and Lizzo.  Former Banza Chief Operating Officer Mike Tarullov said that the brand over-indexes with Millennial and Gen Z consumers with “modern consumer values.”

A 2025 advertisement for Banza Brown Rice Pasta promises relief from “limp noodle syndrome” with a pasta that won’t let you down. By comparison, the year-old Banza Mac and Cheese advertisement focuses exclusively on nutrition (e.g., high protein, high fiber, fewer net carbs).  The Banza Brown Rice spot is similar to Kraft’s 2025 “Best Thing Ever” spot that claims that Kraft Mac and Cheese is better than life partners.  

What’s the Point of Food Brand Strategy Examples Without a Taste Test?

We chose to compare three similar items for our food brand strategy examples:

1. Annie’s Shells & White Cheddar
2. Goodles Shella Good (aged white cheddar and shells)
3. Banza White Cheddar Shells.  

For each brand, we looked at:

• the package nutritional claims
• the pricing
• the Yuka app rating
• our own home taste-test results    

While Goodles wins on the fiber claim and veggie diversity, Banza delivers the most protein.  Annie’s was the lowest-priced at $2.79 shelf price and price paid of $1.99 (after rewards deduction of $0.80).   Meanwhile, Banza had the highest shelf price ($5.99) but ended up costing the same as Goodles at $3.99.    These three brands were all rated “Poor” on the Yuka app because of “risky additives.”  Our home taste test favored Goodles Shella Good and Annie’s Shells with White Cheddar ahead of Banza White Cheddar Shells.

We used the same amount of milk (1/4 cup of 2% milk) and two tablespoons of butter for each (though package instructions vary, for instance, Annie’s suggests two tablespoons unsalted butter, while Banza lists this as optional for a richer flavor, and Goodles suggests one tablespoon butter for a rich flavor). 

How Our BFY Food Brand Strategy Examples Compare

For the gluten-free-focused Millennial and Gen Z adult consumer, Banza delivers multiple BFY product points of difference, (e.g., gluten free, clean label certification more protein and fiber and less net carbs), when compared to traditional pasta. 

In the mac-and-cheese category, Banza delivers a more adult flavor profile and package graphics, compared with Goodles, Annie’s or Kraft blue box.    With comparable protein (15 or more grams for mac-and-cheese), both Goodles and Banza deliver more protein nutrition than Kraft or Annie’s, and, there are likely adult parents who opt for Banza mac-and-cheese as opposed to Goodles mac-and-cheese.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see if the Banza brand successfully expands from chickpeas to other main ingredients, like brown rice.

Explore more examples of brands that deliver high protein products and those that address consumers seeking GLP-1 diet friendly options.   Or contact us to start a dialog today.