I bought some high-protein pretzels – Lenny & Larry’s Fitzels – at the Grocery Outlet recently. As usual, I’ll evaluate them for quality and also for social and environmental impact. My first impression, honestly, was that it wasn’t a very serious product. The name, Lenny & Larry’s, coupled with the logo, a cartoon of two guys with wild hair, made me think of the Three Stooges. Who wants to buy products made by stooges?!

But in the end I was won over by Lenny & Larry. I’ll get to the ethical side later but in terms of taste and nutrition I’m now a fan. I’m always on the lookout for nutritious snacks, especially anything plant-based with high protein content. Let’s face it, finding snacks with high fat or carb content is not hard 😉

So I bought a bag of Lenny & Larry’s Fitzels – Pizza Palooza flavor – to try out. The name Fitzels is a portmanteau of Fitness and Pretzels, fitting the company’s theme of healthier versions of familiar products.

The founders, actually named Benny and Barry, started the company all the way back in 1993 with a high protein muffin that was sold in Southern California health food stores like the venerable Erewhon Market, and also in gyms. The story reminds me a bit of Follow Your Heart, another vegan brand to come out of SoCal a few decades ago, but instead of hippy friends, Lenny & Larry’s was founded by gym rats!

On the left is a muffin and on the right a black and white photo of Benny and Barry, founders of Lenny & Larry's. They are dressed in gym gear and posing with crossed arms, flexing their biceps. — Stud muffins? Benny and Barry, founders of Lenny & Larry’s, with their first product in 1993 – a high protein muffin.

Review of Fitzels high-protein pretzels

I love potato chips but I’ve been trying to find something a bit healthier to snack on, and ideally with less packaging. Of course, one of the best solutions is home-popped organic popcorn – minimal packaging (zero, if you buy in the bulk section) and small footprint (literally and environmentally). I think pretzels can be a pretty good snack, if made well, although they can get a little boring. Fitzels are a nice alternative – pretzels with more flavor and nutritional value.

I had already seen from the Fitzels package that they had a nutritional profile (see below) that was pretty good for a snack. As a vegetarian (mostly vegan) I’m always on the lookout for products that provide nutrients that I may lack – protein, iron, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, etc. The Fitzels ticked boxes for protein and iron but I was actually most impressed with the taste and texture.

The pizza seasoning is very well done and the pretzels have a nice texture that’s slightly on the crispy side of crunchy, if that makes sense. I’m craving them as I write this. And I’m very happy about that because we need more plant-based protein sources that are both shelf-stable and craveable. Most of us have a limited appetite for protein bars.

Fitzels ingredients and nutrition facts

Pea protein is the second ingredient, providing 7 grams of protein per 28 g serving (1 ounce) – or 20 g if you eat the whole bag at once. So they are 25% protein – a little higher than high-protein staples such as chicken and beef.

Fitzels ingredients: Enriched Wheat Flour (wheat flour, niacin, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, folic acid), Pea Protein, Sunflower Oil, Pizza Seasoning (salt, corn maltodextrin, sugar, tomato powder, onion powder, garlic powder, spice, yeast extract), Modified Food Starch. Contains less than 2% of Malt Syrup, Baker’s Yeast, MCT Oil, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Paprika (for color).

The ingredient list look long but that’s mostly because of the vitamins in the wheat flour and the seasoning components. It’s mainly composed of four components: flour, pea protein, sunflower oil, and seasoning. In addition to the high protein content, Fitzels are a reasonably good source of fiber and iron while being moderate in fat and low in sugar.

The Nutrition Facts panel for Lenny & Larry's Fitzels (Pizza Palooza) is shown.
Per 28 gram serving, the product provides 5 g fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 210 mg sodium, 14 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein, and 2 mg iron.

Ethical rating for Lenny & Larry’s Fitzels

I’m rating Lenny & Larry’s Fitzels 3.5/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact, based on the following:

Most Lenny & Larry products are vegan, including Fitzels. Adopting a plant-based diet is the top thing you can do to mitigate climate change, food scarcity, animal cruelty, deforestation, and other major environmental threats.
The main ingredients, wheat flour and pea protein are among the foods with the lowest environmental footprints. Shelf-stable foods made from ingredients like this are among the best kinds of processed foods. I’m a fan of high-protein pasta, made with legumes, for the same reason. It’s good to have snack options like this too.
Ingredients are not organic. I don’t mind too much about the pea protein but I’d prefer if the sunflower oil was organic as neonics are used on the majority of non-organic sunflower crops.
Ingredient sourcing in general is mixed. The Fitzels don’t contain cocoa or palm oil but other products do, and since these are the only ingredients that Lenny & Larry have statements about, let’s take a look at them.
Cocoa: Here’s the company’s very brief statement on cocoa sourcing on the FAQ page: “Our cocoa suppliers practice Fair Trade laws.” That’s very vague, considering that there are several different fair trade programs, each with different requirements. There’s also no fair trade logo on packaging so they are not actually working with an official fair trade third-party certifier.
Palm oil: Again their policy is described in one sentence statement on FAQ page: “We do use sustainable sources and we are certified by the RSPO (Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil).” Two issues with that: there’s no RSPO logo on packaging (which would have specified which RSPO level it meets) and in any case the RSPO is an inadequate certification. (Three issues if you count the fact that it’s called the Roundtable, not Round Table – that may sound catty but they only have one sentence on the topic and they get the name wrong!).
Those last two points don’t apply directly to this product but it does influence my rating a bit, because they are high-impact food ingredients. If I was reviewing a Lenny & Larry product (e.g., cookies) that contained palm oil and/or cocoa I would give it a lower Green Stars rating.
In general the company website and blog don’t share much on company operations or ingredient sourcing. There are a ton of blog posts on the topic of fitness (designed to attract customers, which is fine) but it would be nice to see some of that effort put into communicating about the company.
The company has supported various causes, for example, donating $150k to the National Parks Foundation.
The packaging is lighter than the heavy laminates that some snacks come in. Would love to see Lenny & Larry switch to compostable plastic.

A bag of Lenny & Larry's Fitzels is pictured. Underneath is a graphic showing an ethical rating of 3.5 out of 5 Green Stars rating for social and environmental impact.

Summary scores (out of 5) for Lenny & Larry’s Fitzels:

4.5 gold stars for quality and value.
3.5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact.

What do you think? Comment below with your rating if you like!

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Check out sister site The Green Stars Project for a wider discussion on ethical consumption and social/environmental issues. Here are few relevant articles:

Chocolate and deforestation

The EU needs a better palm oil policy

Should you support fair trade?