Malaysia may have as many food delivery services as Italy has gelaterias, but not all are as health-driven as Wise Crafters. We list both pros & cons of their clean-eating meal plan after sampling it for ourselves
A heart attack scare was the catalyst for Wise Crafters, a homegrown company founded by a father-daughter team. Samantha Ng and family, who adopted a different approach towards their daily diet thereafter, are now spreading the gospel of ancient grains via their food delivery service and meal subscription plans.
Peruse the colourful menu on WiseCrafters.my and you'll notice how oats, chia and quinoa constitute most of the company's meals. Whether used as a thickener in smoothie bowls or blended with spices to form meat-free patties, such grains and pseudocereals reduce the risk of heart disease and should be consumed on a wider scale, especially given our nation's ongoing problem with obesity.
Here are our two cents after sampling Wise Crafters' one-day clean-eating meal plan:
For:
- Flexibility: Coming from a consumer's perspective, being able to choose from an à la carte menu or meal plans (which are further broken down into one-day, five-day or four-week packages) feels less binding.
- Transparency: The clearly-labelled overnight oat jars let you know precisely what is going into your gob, and we're glad to report on the absence of stabilisers and additives.
- Calorie Content: Again, the labels allow you to tally the amount of calories in your meal(s). All meal plans amount to less than 1,500 calories a day—a good switch if you're prone to consuming that same amount of calories in a single meal (adieu, nasi kandar banjir).
- Flavour & Satisfaction: The sheer selection of snacks and dishes is what will bring us back time and again—think 28 kinds of overnight oats and 5 types of smoothie bowls, quinoa salads, warm dishes and healthy beverages. While previous health or diet plans may leave you famished, Wise Crafters has clearly hit the nail on the head by building a business around ancient grains—they'll keep you feeling full on less.
- Price Point: Priced at RM16 per meal on average, Wise Crafters' dishes might seem spenny until you consider the expense of strawberries, persimmons, pitaya and the like.
Against:
- Packaging: While the company deserves points for not including plastic cutlery, it pains us to picture the amount of packaging that goes out per day. Our lunch, a dish of baked eggs with quinoa, was cooked in parchment paper before being doubly wrapped in aluminium foil; this was then triple packed in a plastic takeaway box.
*Note that the company is now offering rebates on returned jars and bottles while experimenting with reusable plastic containers.
