When it comes to deciding what to eat every day, there is certainly no shortage of options in Saigon. From simple street food carts to white tablecloth establishments, the city has it all.
However, I don’t always have the time to seek these places out, and restaurant meals aren’t always especially healthy. About a year ago I discovered Fitfood VN, a packaged meal delivery service that makes meal planning a breeze. I get my lunch and dinner delivered every weekday morning, an incredibly convenient setup that means I never have to worry about deciding where to go for those meals.
This is a dream in an era of hectic work schedules, busy social calendars and a brain-frying number of restaurant options. Fitfood’s focus on healthy eating, meanwhile, provides plenty of vegetables, protein and other nutrients that you may not get from an oily, hastily prepared street food plate.
Officially launched in early 2016, the company provides prepared meals to its customers’ doors every weekday. Kim Thai, Fitfood’s founder and managing director, decided to create Fitfood after noticing how many gyms were opening in Saigon, and how many people were starting to take fitness more seriously.
“A lot of people are looking for something healthy, safe and convenient,” he says. “That’s what we try to tackle. We offer our customers something really convenient, really fresh.”
Customers can choose from four packages, including ones which offer three meals a day or two meals a day, ranging in price from VND550,000 to VND900,000 per week. The meals are delivered either the night before the day they are intended for, or the morning of.
Ingredients for a day’s meal are delivered the day beforehand, and are almost entirely sourced locally. “For vegetables we have one VietGAP-certified partner who delivers every day from Da Lat, so the veggies are fresh all the time,” Kim says.
Other local companies supply fresh fish, chicken and pork, while herbs, spices and ingredients for sauces are purchased from Metro and the import shops on Ham Nghi Street.
As a long-time Fitfood customer, the reliable nutrition and quality of Fitfood’s meals is a major draw. Vegetables are steamed so that they retain most of their nutrients, and nothing is too oily. The food is packaged cold and immediately stored in a refrigerator until it is time for delivery, which prevents meals from spoiling or picking up unwanted bacteria.
A lot of thought and care goes into designing menus and portion sizes as well. When you go out to eat, you can never be sure how much food you’ll get in a serving, but Fitfood is consistent, and the meal plan you select provides you with a pre-determined number of calories and carbs. This is ideal for anyone who is on an exercise regime or trying to maintain a steady diet. Fitfood’s system is modeled on meal prep services in Australia and the United States, and the portions are based on Harvard University’s “Healthy Eating Plate” program.
Fitfood currently uses menus featuring about 100 dishes, and they gather customer feedback on these in order to make changes and find out what works for when the next menu rotation begins.
This convenience is undeniable, and the meals – a fusion of Asian and Western cuisines – are delicious and diverse. Each dish contains plenty of vegetables and proteins while minimizing carbs to the occasional helping of brown rice. This balance helps Fitfood stand out from other meal options.
Kim’s ultimate goal is to make it even easier for customers to access Fitfood’s healthy portions. “Ideally we’d like to start offering meals at a larger and more efficient scale,” he shares. “We’re also going to approach a lot of fitness centers and corporations so that we can offer them discounts and do programs like 30-day clean eating or weight loss challenges.”
For now, Fitfood’s home or office delivery service is already plenty convenient. Imagine no longer having to argue with co-workers over where to go for lunch. No more bulky lunchboxes on the daily trip from home to the office. No more pressure to figure out what to eat for dinner after a long day at work. All of that alone is well worth the price, while the healthy nature of the meals is an added bonus.
Visit Fitfood's website to learn more about their meal plan options and how to sign up.
