Gal Gadot-backed mac-and-cheese brand to be bought by Italian pasta giant Barilla

Terms of deal not disclosed but brand holds 7.8% of the US market and was valued at $88 million in 2023; founded in 2020 as a healthier take on the food, Gadot was early investor

A US mac-and-cheese brand backed by Israeli actress Gal Gadot announced Thursday that it was set to be acquired by Italian pasta giant Barilla.

Goodles, which was founded in October 2020 and bills its products as a “more nutritious, incredibly delicious” mac-and-cheese, said it would stay based in Santa Cruz, California, maintain its 73-person staff and “continue to operate independently as a standalone brand.”

“The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals,” the statement said.

It did not otherwise specify terms of the deal, including the selling price. The company was valued at $88 million after a 2023 funding round that raised $13 million.

It turned its first profit in 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The newspaper reported Goodles controlled 7.8% of the US boxed mac-and-cheese market in the 12 months that ended in June, up from just 0.8% over the same period three years earlier.

Boxes of Goodles mac-and-cheese are seen in an undated photo. (Business Wire via AP)

Barilla Group chairman Guido Barilla said the 149-year-old pasta titan, which sells to over 100 countries, has “been following Goodles closely for some time” and was impressed by its team, products and “the momentum behind its growth.”

Goodles CEO and co-founder Jan Zeszut said the company seeks to go global and that “more than 90% of people in the US have never tried Goodles, so we’ve only just begun.”

It’s unclear what stake Gadot holds in Goodles and what her role there will be following the Barilla deal.

A Goodies representative confirmed to Variety that Gadot was an investor, though the entertainment news outlet noted Goodles had called her a “founding partner” in past statements.

Gal Gadot poses with her new star at a ceremony honoring her on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Gadot, 41, told People magazine in November 2021 that she and her husband, Israeli investor Jaron Varsano, became early investors in Goodles when she was looking for healthier options to feed her children.

The actress traced her love for mac-and-cheese to her aunt and uncle who visited Israel from the US when Gadot was a small girl and brought with them “a huge bag full of boxes” of the food.

Gadot, best known for playing Wonder Woman, confirmed in a recent interview that she had been cut from the series’ third installment after a change of management at DC Studios.

She is currently promoting her latest film, “The Runner,” in which she plays a high-powered London defense attorney whose son is kidnapped.