As we all know, success usually comes down to making smart choices in all aspects of life. When it comes to your health, if you are hard pressed for time and cannot plan your healthy meals, using a meal delivery service is one of the smartest choices you can make. By turning the cooking over to someone else, you can save time and improve your health. By getting your meals delivered, you will be able to take a more disciplined and efficient approach to food. We try out the Root’D vegan meal delivery for 5 days and tell you why you should opt for it.
Root’D is UAE’s latest vegan meal delivery service. Their tasty, freshly prepared cuisine is on offer with convenient meal plans: Weight management, Balanced lifestyle and Detox Refuel. These plans help to regularly track your macronutrients and calorie intake ensuring that your meals support your wellness targets. This is helpful, whether you want to lose weight or build muscle. The food includes labeling that lists nutritional data. This label makes tracking the calories and macros associated with each meal a breeze. Eating large portions at a single sitting is a pitfall that is common when we cook at home. With Root’D you have meals that are portioned. This type of built-in portion control helps make sure you consume your food in amounts that support your overall productivity.
The meal plans are designed specifically for you based on your requirements and in consultation with the dietician at Root’D to help you achieve your goal. You have several choices to pick from, on a weekly basis.
The daily breakfast picked from a choice of four included options like a delicious Blueberry parfait, layering dairy-free yogurt, and refined sugar-free granola with almonds and pecans- all of 299 calories, black bean, and sweet potato hash – a delightful medley of taste and health, a classic peanut butter and toast, yummy mushroom quesadillas with salad, and turmeric overnight oats.
The in-between snacks were easy to eat on the go and just as delicious, helping me power through the busy day. Cauliflower bites with chimichurry were unusual and a welcome addition to my grab and go list! The others included chocolate covered coconut bites, almond and raw chocolate bars, strawberries with almond and cashew butter (yummy) and olive crackers with hummus (delightful).
Lunches and dinners are chosen daily from a choice of five options and there are a lot of tasty, filling salad bowls, burritos, pasta, stews and wraps on offer. Mine included a burrito bowl akin to a buddha bowl (something I love!), a delightful falafel wrap, colourful and flavourful veggie salads with dips, potato quinoa chupe (a delightful chowder), braised artichokes with potato gnocchi, a chickpea burrito wrap, peanut butter noodles (my fav), sloppy Mo’s lentil bun (lentils cooked in a tangy homemade sauce, and served on a bun – hearty, and filling) and roasted veg pasta.
Root’D is all about clean, complete meals in a great vairety and cleaned up versions of classics that will keep you full, energized and feeling fantastic. This has all that you are looking for, right in one delivery bag!
I opted for the weight management plan at 1200 calories daily and it helped me knock down 2 kgs in 5 days!
Roy Koyess, Founder of Freakin’Healthy and Root’D tells us why we should choose a Root’D meal plan.
With a plethora of options available, why Root’D?
It’s always been Freakin’ Healthy’s mission to enable consumers to live a healthier lifestyle by providing “better-for-you” F&B solutions. Over the past couple of years, we have created a strong brand (in Freakin’ Healthy) and a dedicated consumer following. These very consumers urged us to expand beyond snacks and into meal solutions. Guided by the same principles we have built Freakin’ Healthy on, we launched Root’D, our plant-based subscription meal plan business in November of 2020. So, this was something that was on our radar for some time, and we felt very strongly about the opportunity.
As Middle East consumers are becoming more aware of the health impacts of certain diets and increased exposure to chronic diseases, they are demanding cleaner and more wholesome food options. We welcomed this emerging class of consumer and took the opportunity to provide solutions that go beyond just snacking.
How do you achieve a balance between indulgence and health?
It is about using clean ingredients and over-delivering on taste expectations. There is an art behind putting a recipe together and bringing it to life. What ingredients are used and in combination with other ingredients, the methodology of preparation and the added final touches of cooking with loads of love for each dish (really caring about what you do). Taste is extremely vital, consumers must really look forward to and enjoy every single dish, otherwise we will not have any long-term loyal customer. Being creative and using clean ingredients is what it boils down to.
Your definition of a clean label?
It comes down using simpler Ingredients and one’s consumers can understand. Definitely no E-Numbers, no artificial colorants, no artificial flavours, no artificial sweeteners, no bad oils, etc.…. It would be minimally processed, and perhaps as importantly, it would mean brand transparency and honestly about what is used and what is not.
How is the menu developed?
Meals are structured based on a few factors. Primarily for health (clean ingredients) and for each recipe to taste great (as mentioned previously), if they do not meet either of these two criteria, they wouldn’t be placed on the menu. Obviously, all meals are also nutritionally balanced and approved by our nutritionist and are available in several calorie formats (1200, 1400, 1600 and 2000 Kcals). Ultimately, we always keep in mind that if the product does not satisfy our clients, they would not stick to their diet regime and eventually fall off their objective.
What is the secret of your success?
Success is like a great recipe; it really comes down to many factors (or ingredients in this case) and the execution. For a brand to have a better shot at success, I would look at 3 broad factors. Think about 3 circles, 1st Circle – Having true passion for what you do. 2ndCircle – Market Opportunity & Fit. 3rd Circle – Ability to monetize your idea. Where those 3 circles overlap is where you will start to see success.
Do you think that COVID has impacted the way people look at eating healthy?
Definitely. Globally, we have seen plant-based eating accelerate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here in the region, we definitely saw more interest in plant-based eating and snacking in the UAE (July onwards), we are still in the midst of the Covid pandemic. However, I think people are looking at healthier lifestyles and not just healthier eating. I just hope that with the new vaccines on the market we will be able to overcome this crisis but more importantly, I hope people don’t resort back to their unhealthy habits. We have had customers say to us that they have started thinking about changing their diet during covid, some have said they would consider plant based for a certain amount of time and even at least 1 or 2 meals per day.
What else would you like to tell our readers?
When consumers hear about plant based or vegan food, they still have a perception of very plain and bland dishes. We are here to redefine their plant-based cuisine. We would like everyone to try out plant-based food, as we have designed meals to appeal to vegans and non-vegans alike. Half off our clients is actually not vegan, they just wish to detox or take a break from Animal based products and by-products. We find that these clients are truly impressed with the Root’D menu. In addition, all clients have the flexibility to subscribe to a plan for 1, 2 or 4 weeks and decide on the number off meals per day and whether they require deliveries 5 or 6 days a week. Our consumer facing website is extremely intuitive and will take a new customer less than 10 minutes to sign up and get started.
Roy Koyess is Lebanese Canadian born in Saudi Arabia. Through his cross-cultural upbringing he has lived in the Philippines, Holland, Canada, Lebanon, KSA until he moved to Dubai in 2003. In Dubai, Roy spent 14 years in a corporate role with one of the leaders in global health care. Then in 2017, Roy took the entrepreneurial plunge to set up the F&B brand, Freakin’ Healthy®, which has now become a full-time job. The catalyst behind this venture stemmed from the frustrations around the lack of healthy snacks and lack of transparency in the category. The mission is to introduce consumers to a healthier way of life via healthy eating.