Noodles & Co. will sell dishes with zoodles in an attempt be healthy and profitable

As its name suggests, Noodles & Co. built its brand on pasta variations — and now it’s banking on alternatives to save the business.

You can go ahead and call them Zoodles & Co now. That’s right: Noodles & Co. is offering zucchini noodles as an option for any of their pasta or otherwise noodle-based dishes. The company has been operating with significant losses for some time now and they think the problem is carbs. It is…a strategy, that’s for sure.

The logic holds. Many people abstain or attempt to abstain for carbs, specifically pasta, for many reasons, both dietary (as in on-a-diet) and dietary (as in medical-restriction). Noodles & Co. has a very pasta-forward menu. Pasta Fresca, Spicy Chipotle Adobo, Penne Rosa, Wisconsin Mac & Cheese, Pesto Cavatappi, Spaghetti and Meatballs — it’s all pasta. Even that which is not pasta, is still noodle based: Thai Green Curry, Spicy Korean Beef Noodles, Japanese Pan Noodles, Pad Thai, Steak Stroganoff. They sell buttered noodles. Yes, if people aren’t eating carbs, it stands that Noodles & Co. is not making money.

Zoodles, as zucchini noodles are called, are not only a healthy alternative, a la whole wheat pasta, but also a very trendy food base. And while the substitution certainly helps,it’s hard to see whether the zoodle substitution is actually going to significantly move the health-needle for most of these dishes. They’ve already attempted to make their menu diet-friendly, offering filters to view the best options for gluten-free eating, watching sugar or being sodium conscious.

Still, the pasta chain is banking on this zoodle innovation to help attract some of the customers deterred on account of the carbs.

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After all, it would be very hard to give up the whole noodle concept completely — it’s kind of their whole brand.