6 minute read
Review
TEST-DRIVE
Liv checks out the newest workouts and wellness trends
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NUTRITION
VEGAN MEAL PLAN WITH NUTRITION KITCHEN
The Buzz: If you’ve been dying to try veganism on for size, but struggle with Hong Kong’s meat-forward food landscape, there’s an easy solution. Local meal delivery service Nutrition Kitchen just launched an entirely plant-based meal plan, promising restaurant-quality, nutritionally balanced meat- and dairy-free dishes that are nutritionally balanced and delivered to your door. We try a week of vegan meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - to assess whether it’s for us.
The Meals: Delivered in compostable boxes labelled with full nutritional breakdowns, our meals arrive promptly each morning. Breakfasts are hearty; we’re impressed by the creative substitutes for egg-based dishes - think chickpea huevos rancheros and Tex-Mex tofu scramble. Lunch and dinner recipes are just as innovative. We’re pleasantly surprised by tantalising mains like mushroom meatballs with orzo salad, curried tempeh on brown rice, and portobello steak with harissa and butter bean mash - not what one expects when they switch to a vegan diet! The Verdict: Top-quality vegan food can be tricky to find in Hong Kong, and when you do, it often comes with a price tag. Nutrition Kitchen does a great job of putting together a convenient and affordable plantbased option, working out to as little as $74 a meal, depending on your needs. We appreciated the generous servings of vegetables included in each meal, and the off-the-charts creativity! Although chefs work with mock meat (Omnipork mapo tofu, Gardein chicken green curry), it’s not the only tool in their arsenal, and we love discovering all the ingenious whole foods recipes that are better for our bodies, and the planet. One drawback for some might be the protein content, which admittedly isn’t as high as meat-based meals. But it isn’t lacking either, and we’re always left satisfied - it just depends on your personal health and wellness goals. Worth a shot if you’d like to expand your horizons when it comes to living a more plant-based lifestyle! Cost: $1,305 for one week (MondayFriday) of meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner).
nutritionkitchenhk.com
Yes He Can
Christopher Liang is on a mission to change how Asia - and the world - consumes water. The Hong Kong CEO of (Phenomenal) beWater speaks to Liv Magazine about his simple yet groundbreaking idea to ditch plastic bottles and switch to canned filtered water instead.
Q Tell us about beWater. How did the idea
come about?
beWater came about as a new way to introduce water for a generation of consumers that values health and portability. We saw that consumers in the market, especially those who enjoyed hospitality and fitness services, cared more about their health and the environment, and these were the two metrics from which the concept of beWater was derived.
Q Where do you source the water from, and
how is it treated?
Our water is sourced naturally from groundwater close to our high-tech treatment plant in Saigon. We are collaborating with Fortune 500 company Ball Corporation, as well as Japanese technology providers Fujiwa, on this venture. Our production quality conforms to both ISO22000 and FDA standards. The pH levels of our water is consistently high at around 7.0 and the mineral content is well balanced with 0.07% silica, 0.15% potassium, and 0.63% sodium.
Q Tell us about why you decided to use aluminium cans rather than Tetra Paks.
Aluminium cans have been shown by numerous studies in recent years to be the most ESGfriendly packaging material for fast moving consumer goods. They can actually be made and recycled numerous times, with fewer carbon emissions per cycle than other materials such as plastic or glass. We view aluminum as the 21st century alternative to Tetra Paks as there is less
labelling required; our product information is etched directly into the metal itself.
Q What are some ways you plan to improve
beWater's presence in Hong Kong?
We plan to improve beWater's acceptance and circulation in Hong Kong by targeting hotels and fitness centres as well as upmarket groceries such as City'Super. We also plan to implement regular can collection and recycling awareness events.
Q What are your goals for the beWater brand in
Hong Kong and globally?
Our goals for beWater and particularly our (Phenomenal) beWater brand is to become a household name and staple water brand in Hong Kong within the next three years, and to become one of the leading water brands in APAC, with between 15-20 percent of regional market share, within the next five years.
Q Where can we find beWater in Hong Kong? You will soon find (Phenomenal) beWater across a range of Hong Kong's most popular hotels including The Intercontinental, Accor Hotels, Fullerton and Hyatt Hotel Group, as well as premium fitness and yoga studios.
Q Do you find it a challenge to change people's
consumption habits from bottled to canned water? How do you convince them to make the change?
It was slightly challenging when the concept was first introduced to the Asian market two years ago, but the change has been significant and swift. To have pure water encapsulated in cans was our patented creation and it seems to work quite well with gyms and hotels since they fit snugly in the inroom minibars.
Q Why do you consider it your mission to bring
beWater to market? How important is sustainable development to you personally?
It was a challenge as well as a socio-economically viable opportunity at the time to introduce aluminium as the packaging material of choice for our waters. It has occurred at a time when more and more people - particularly those in emerging markets - are becoming more ESG conscious and ecologically savvy, as could be seen in the legislative directives in Hong Kong (via HKTDC); Singapore (PaCT); and Vietnam(Directive 33) I also realised it was the right thing to do as a health conscious millennial and it was my idea to give back and care for mother nature, since more people are to purchasing and consuming packaged drinks more than ever before.
Q Where is beWater currently available? The original beWater was first launched in South East Asia back in 2020 when our concept took off with several internationally renowned hospitality groups such as Accor and the Intercontinental, and quickly spread throughout APAC as a source of exquisitely refined waters that was portable, tasteful and environmentally sustainable. (Phenomenal) beWater is the upgraded version - patented in 2022 - that conforms to FDA standards. It has a crisper taste and better pH, and shall be the international standard for our concept in East Asia.
Q What is your plan to encourage recycling? We have a tried-and-tested system that we hope to emulate in Hong Kong as a pioneer of truly circular packaging. We will visit our corporate distributors on a periodic basis (for instance, once per month) to take a proactive role in monitoring the collection of our used canisters. Our goal is to build social awareness and momentum to generate a self-sustaining loop, We want government bureaus and corporates to align in initiatives that contribute to a sustainable future . Q What have been your most challenging
hurdles?
It has been a challenge to survive as a fresh concept given all the changes in government COVID restrictions. The ever-changing rules have severely affected the operational efficiency of businesses, social consumption, and the F&B sector in particular. However, the silver lining is that things are getting better, with people getting immunised, and our social lives returning to normal. After surviving the fifth wave, with people forced to go home or work from home and shrink their social lives, we don’t foresee any major challenges from now, as restrictions have been relaxing since April.
