If you are what you eat, than NUTRITION KITCHEN is the brand to follow. PETE FISHER explains what it takes to make this dream a living reality.
“We’ve all been heavily involved in the fitness industry for a number of years. Working as personal trainers in Central Hong Kong we were disappointed by the lack of convenient healthy options to recommend to our clients,” says Pete Fisher one of the company’s founders.
“Very few of our clients had time to cook and the dominant culture wasn’t very healthy. The prevailing trends in the fitness industry we’re very short term, unsustainable and fad based. Juice cleanses and liquid diets on the one hand and drunken debauchery were presented as the only viable options, either embrace the expat drinking culture or move to Lamma Island and grow your own vegetables. We saw an opportunity to provide a moderate, long term, sustainable option,” says Fisher.
Wise Meals
“Hong Kong has completely transformed and now has one of the most vibrant health scenes in the world. We had anticipated that our brand would appeal to established gym goers and we have been surprised by the demand for our service from outside of the fitness world. What has become clear is that people are using our food as a gateway towards joining a gym or seeking help fro a personal trainer. Losing weight by using our food gives them confidence that they can take charge of their health,” Fisher explains.
There are two conflicting trends that have conspired to increase demand for our product. People are growing increasingly sedentary in their everyday lives so they simply cannot metabolise the same amount of food that they might have done. This Sedantarism is paired with a heightened self-awareness and an increasingly educated public, people aren’t falling for the same fads that they did previously. We service this by providing filling and tasty meals that are generally pretty low on calories.”
Wide Variety, Balanced Diet
We’re the first company in Hong Kong to provide an accurate breakdown of the macronutrient content of our meals. Other providers were more focused on fads and trends: Vegan, Paleo and Raw foods – we wanted an alternative based on hard science and real world results. Our product is for the busy professional that is serious about fitness and wants a convenient way to eat a well-balanced macronutrient diet. We have a strong focus on food variety and try our best to bring a diverse offering of ethnic food so that eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. Health is a long-term venture and this variety makes staying on plan easy. Chicken and broccoli has a place in healthy diet but it shouldn’t be every meal.”
Art of Smart! Fisher says: “There are two main factors where we differ from all of our competitors: 1) We don’t have a kitchen and a chef. We have partnered with Swire restaurants which is part of one of the largest and most trusted companies in Hong Kong. This allows us to mix in with their strong buying power and allows us to source the best possible ingredients and benefit immediately from the economies of scale. Although by outsourcing we operate at a higher food cost than our competitors we save tremendously on labor, rent, electricity and licensing and we pass these savings directly on to our customers.
2) We manage our logistics internally and have our own team of 10 drivers and delivery personnel that work for us each day. Most of our competitors are outsourcing the delivery. This comes at a cost of 20-30% of gross sales so this is another area where we can pass on savings to our customers and ensure we remain highly competitive in the market.
Passion for Fitness & Food
For now we are highly focused on our existing business and we have no plans to expand beyond Hong Kong, Fisher says. “Our main focus at the moment is to continue to grow the existing business and streamline our online point of sale and logistics operations. Now that we have a strong product that we can stand behind we will be targeting corporate clients and working on expanding the business rapidly in the corporate sector.”
“Our business model has remained consistent from day one and we’ve recognized that over elaborating menus and trying to cater to everyone makes for a logistical and operational nightmare. Behind this is a shared passion for fitness and food and a belief that being healthy shouldn’t mean compromising on taste and flavor,” concludes Fisher.
For additional information, please visit www.nutritionkitchenhk.com
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