Rhian Ramos' Food Brand 'Healthy Appetite' Puts Nutrition First
“Lately, I have been thinking about several of my interests and looking into how other people may relate to and be affected by the same subjects, one of which is healthy eating,” Rhian stated. “I felt that the market lacked food options that don't fail us in terms of nutrition, especially in the awkward times of the day and night. Our 24-hour virtual restaurant, Healthy Appetite is an answer to that problem” she explains, revealing the inspiration and essence of what her new baby is all about.
Healthy Appetite is a delivery-only concept that brings Filipinos easy, accessible, delicious and nutritious meals. For those looking to be vegan, listen up! She has a selection of plant-based meals on top of her menu of wholesome eats. “Most of our menu is plant-based, but we do have some dishes with real chicken, egg, and dairy. We wanted to offer options that are healthy but also sustainable,” she shares.
Read more: Healthy Food That Tastes Good Too
In fact, despite being a healthy restaurant, there is one menu item that was purely a mental health decision for Rhian: the three-cheese mac & cheese. She tells me that the last thing she wants after a full meal is to feel deprived, and wanted to show people that you don’t need to be so strict all the time. “That's how all diets fail. My message is not to suddenly become a different person overnight, it is to do better every day, and we want to support our customers through that journey” Rhian relates.
To make this huge shift and try her hand in a new industry was an important choice, one that she made with a great deal of research and passion. To share her personal experiences with food, and hopefully help Filipinos eat better means a lot to her. “I have always felt that deciding on how to eat should be inspired by what our bodies need. The idea of healthy eating differs from person to person, depending on what their goals are. There are diets that help you build muscle, that help you lose or gain weight, that help you avoid diabetes, fatty organs or gout for example. Personally, I've had so many diet changes in my life as my goals have changed, but one method has proven to be universal. I've always benefitted from eating more vegetables.”
Read more: Erwan Heussaff On How To Lead A Healthy Lifestyle
When developing her menu, Rhian was hands-on with R&D and made sure everything was to her liking. “My personal taste definitely played a role in how the final menu was put together,” she says excitedly. “I don't avoid all carbohydrates, I just try to stick to the more complex ones, hence our adlai and quinoa-based options. We also serve cauliflower rice which has been a big part of my diet for the past two years. I also love eggplant, so we have a couple of dishes that satisfy that. I love Mexican flavours too, therefore a pollo asada bowl,” she divulges, proving how intertwined she is with Healthy Appetites.
Healthy eating in the country year after year has become more available and accessible, but many still correlate eating well with being expensive, to which she says: “I can't blame them. It used to be. But that's what brought Healthy Appetite here in the first place. To show everyone that it doesn't have to cost extra and it doesn't have to be inconvenient. This is the Philippines, crops grow here, we cook flavourful food here, having healthy food brought to your doorstep is very possible here too.”
Read more: How To Shift To A Plant Based Diet?
Healthy Appetite is available 24/7 via GrabFood.