C8 Tuesday, March 12, 2013
FITNESS & WELL-BEING
Vending over A Canadian businessman’s mission to offer healthier treats in snack machines is slowly catching on in the city, writes Charley Lanyon
backwards V
ending machines are enormously popular in Asia. Japan leads the pack with about one machine per 25 people. Hong Kong, often mentioned as another bastion of the vending machine, lags well behind Japan, with one machine per about 700 people. It was in this snack machine gap that Adam So, a Canadian banker working in Hong Kong, saw an opportunity. “I looked into the vending concept and thought, this is easy,” he says. “It’s a good cash cow.” But as So was looking to start up a business, vending machines were coming under attack in the West, especially in the US and in schools. Vending machines, which offer inexpensive access to unhealthy snack foods, were increasingly being blamed for high rates of childhood obesity and other health problems. The other place vending machines are prevalent is in high-stress work environments where employees need fuel to get through long days. Hong Kong’s corporate workers were beginning to embrace healthier lifestyles and So saw an opportunity there, too. Enter Health Addiction, a company that provides vending machines that carry only healthy snacks and beverages. Originally, So took his inspiration from California public schools, where junk food vending machines had been banned and healthy alternatives were starting to spring up. He tried to set stringent guidelines for his snacks, but found that the paucity of healthy snacking options in Hong Kong, coupled with the demands of a public too
700 The number of people per vending machine in Hong Kong
accustomed to their unhealthy snacks, meant that he had to be a bit less strict. He has filled them with items such as Alpen light bars, Fuseli cereal bars, pretzels, Sunbites chips and freeze-dried edamame. Since the first Health Addiction vending machine debuted in November 2009, business has been brisk. There are now 60 of them in Hong Kong, most in offices and schools. Health Addiction’s machines were just what anxious parents and school administrators were looking for. At many international schools, traditional vending machines were at odds with their visions of a healthier, more nutritionally aware, student body. Nasci Lobo’s son attends the Canadian International School of Hong Kong and Loso takes health and nutrition seriously. He makes his son’s lunches and snacks at home. He told his son to avoid school meals and to steer clear of the junk in the vending machines. When Lobo was hired as the school’s alumni relations and sustainable development officer, he made cleaning up the school’s food options a priority. “When I was with the parent’s association there were many discussions about snacks in the machines ... things like prawn crackers and Pocky sticks. We found out about Health Addiction and now we have two machines from them, one in the cafeteria, and one in the gym.” He still prefers his teenage son to eat the food he prepares at home, but as his son gets older the rules become harder to enforce. The Health Addiction machines give him some peace of mind. A teacher at the same school, Aaron Metz says that with the removal of the old unhealthy machines, he has seen a positive change: “I would say that over the past three years [when the new machines were installed], the snacking habits of our student body have definitely become a lot healthier.” One student, Mizuki Nishiyama, 14, eats a snack a day from the vending machines on campus. She brings fruit from home, but before she used to go to the vending machines every day for a pack of chocolate chip cookies. “Now the cookies in the machines are oatmeal so I don’t get the cookies any more ... now I usually get the sun bites, pretzels or fruit nuggets.” But not everyone is willing to give up junk food. Jared Itkowitz, is an assistant vice-president at Barclays Bank, says at his last job
in New York his office only had healthy vending machines. In Hong Kong, the Health Addiction machine is next to a more typical snack machine. Itkowitz says he eats at least one snack a day. In New York, where he only had healthy options, it was a healthier snack, but when asked about his snack of choice in Hong Kong, a guilty smile crosses his face: “I like the cheese pretzels, sometimes candy. Something sweet and something salty; you know you have to mix it up a little bit.” Snacking may seem of little consequence but studies have shown that a person’s snack choices have a large effect on their overall nutrition. A study by the University of Cincinnati published in the International Adam So with one of his Quarterly of machines in Quarry Bay. Photo: Dickson Lee Community Health Education found that snacking made up a large part of schoolchildren’s daily caloric intake: children in the study consumed about 300 Addiction vending machines, calories a day from snack but is less impressed with the foods, nearly 17 per cent of drinks: “Most of the drinks in their daily calorie the machines are high in sugar, consumption, this compared like coconut water and the fruit to just 45 calories from fruit smoothie drinks.” and vegetables. There are other issues with Health Addiction. Most snacks cost between HK$10 and HK$24, making them significantly more expensive than their unhealthy alternatives. And, due to limited snack options and popular pressure, the definition of “healthy” has become broader while their machines remain in direct competition with machines selling more familiar junk food. Health Addiction won’t single-handedly turn back the tide of obesity in Hong Kong, AARON METZ, TEACHER nor will it make kids less in love with candy, but maybe, by presenting an alternative and Dietitians like Mimi Li are in drawing attention to the agreement that snacks are a snacking choices we make, it valuable part of a wellcan start to change our balanced diet. They provide ingrained snacking habits. calories, improve metabolism Still, nutritionists and and supply energy in those educators agree the cheapest long stretches between meals. snack solution is still the best for But what is a healthy snack? you: bring some fruits, According to Li, a healthy vegetables, or nuts from home snack should “contain and wash them down with carbohydrates and be low in some water. fat”. She agrees with some of charley.lanyon@scmp.com the snack choices in Health
Over the past three years, the snacking habits of our student body have become a lot healthier
THE TASTE TEST RAW CHOCOLATE ................................................ Jeanette Wang jeanette.wang@scmp.com Raw chocolate is cacao in its natural state – not mixed with fat, milk or sugar. It isn’t heated above 42 degrees Celsius, the point at which its nutrients start to diminish, and it’s supposed to be better for you. Organic food chain Just Green has a great selection of raw chocolate – I tested three.
Pulsin’ Bliss Bar! Maca Ashwagandha Raw Chocolate HK$25 for 50 grams This snack bar has 12 per cent raw cocoa and two exotic nutrients: maca – an ancient Peruvian superfood said to increase stamina, boost libido and combat fatigue – and ashwagandha, a herb also known as “Indian ginseng”, said to help learning and memory. Verdict: bliss it’s not. Pretty bland and dry, it tastes like protein bars.
Charity resurrects a two-wheel classic Simon Mottram, a successful businessman and father of an autistic teenager, has revived a storied cycling relay, writes Jeanette Wang Success can easily go to one’s head, particularly for the boss of a company that’s gone from zero to £18 million (HK$208 million) in sales in a short time. But there’s another side to Simon Mottram’s life: when he’s not running Rapha, the Londonbased cycling apparel company he founded in 2004, he’s running after his son Oscar. “Oscar requires 24-hour-aday care,” says Mottram, 47, of his autistic 18-year-old son, the eldest of three children. “He has no sense of danger, he’s not verbal, he’s in nappies. So while he’s a very happy, nice guy to have around, you have to be thinking about him all the time. It is constant attention, constant stress … it’s quite a grind.” Mottram speaks openly about his son, but this wasn’t always the case. “What we were doing with Rapha was so different from my life with [Oscar], I didn’t want to use it as some kind of soap box.” But this year, he’s found a reason to comfortably talk about
both: the Rapha Bordeaux to Paris, a 600-kilometre team relay ride that aims to raise £250,000 for Ambitious about Autism, the charity behind Oscar’s school – TreeHouse in north London. Mottram says he always wanted Rapha to do some charity work, but turned down all pitches seeking the brand’s involvement – until someone from Ambitious about Autism came to him last year for ideas and support for a fundraising ride. “We could only be involved if we could make it relevant for Rapha,” says Mottram. Bordeaux to Paris, a classic cycling race that ran from 1891 to 1988, tied in with Rapha’s focus on cycling’s rich history and lifestyle. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the last race, which was stopped due to lack of funding, and the 50th anniversary of Briton Tom Simpson’s victory. “We thought it’d be nice to resurrect one of these lost classic races and use it as a vehicle to raise money for the charity,”
Simon Mottram, cycling fan and founder of Rapha. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
says Mottram. If all goes to plan, he hopes to hold a “lost classic” charity event every year. Participants pay a £975 entry fee and must raise £2,500 each. In teams of four, they must finish the ride in 24 hours. There is space for 25 teams. The money goes to providing lifelong learning and support for young people and adults with autism, plus campaigning for greater understanding and
We thought it’d be nice to resurrect one of these lost races to raise money for the charity SIMON MOTTRAM
provision. Mottram says support and funding for autism in Britain is “very thin”, although it’s still pretty good relative to funding in other European countries. “We had to go fight the council to get them to fund [Oscar’s] special education. They wanted to put him into a regular special needs school, and he needs specific care. So we took them to court and that cost us money and time,” says Mottram. “[Support] is getting better for small children because there have been lots more cases of autism in kids born in the past 10 years or so. But what happens when they become adults? I think nobody has worked it out.” Oscar, who was diagnosed at 20 months, has a developmental age of under two and is on the “more disabled end of the spectrum”, says Mottram. Life with Oscar is challenging, but Mottram says it can be incredibly rewarding, too. “He’s very loving and takes huge pleasure in us and his siblings and music and going outside… Overall, it’s not a terrible place to be. The problem is all in our heads; Oscar is actually really happy.” Work and cycling provide an escape for Mottram, who has
been obsessed with the sport since he first watched the Tour de France on television at age 18. He rides three times a week, including a four-hour ride on Wednesday mornings. “[Cycling] gives me perspective and complete distance, and that’s really good,” he says. “It’s harder for my wife [Lucy] because she doesn’t work … it’s much harder for her to remain positive, I think.” Life with Oscar has changed their approach to raising their other two children, Connie, 16, a sprint athlete, and Felix, 11. “We want our children to be happy and Oscar has really brought us that. We want them to fulfil their potential,” says Lucy. “But it’s also made us look closely at our lives and enjoy the good bits. We take very little for granted.” Mottram’s personal life has helped keep his professional life on track. “It definitely helps me to be focused on Rapha being successful,” he says, “because if I’m going to take all this time and energy and put it into something other than the family, it’s got to be really good. And I’m sure that’s given me more drive than I would’ve had otherwise.” jeanette.wang@scmp.com
Organic Mulu Dark Raw Chocolate HK$48 for 74 grams Raw cocoa butter, raw agave nectar, raw cocoa powder, sunflower lecithin (a fatty substance found in sunflower seeds) and ground vanilla are combined to make this “handcrafted” block. Verdict: the best of the three, it has a texture closest to cooked chocolate. Not bitter, despite having minimum 70 per cent cocoa solids.
The Raw Chocolate Co Raw Chocolate with mint & xylitol HK$18 for 22 grams A skinny slab that’s made with cocoa mass, virgin cocoa butter and mint oil. It’s sweetened with natural birch-derived, tooth-friendly xylitol. Verdict: refreshing and light on the palate, but a bit of creaminess would be appreciated – it melts in your mouth almost instantly.