Snack on this
Three friends are embarking on a mission to raise awareness on healthy eating and their focus are tasty, healthy Asian-inspired snacks, writes Kasmiah Mustapha
MALAYSIANS love to snack on foods that are high in calories and sugar. Among our favourite snacks are local kuih, crackers, cookies, cakes and banana fritters.
Snacking or eating between meals is supposed to curb hunger so that you don’t overeat during main meals. But when the snacks are unhealthy, this habit will lead to weight gain, especially if main meals are also unhealthy.
According to the British Nutrition Foundation, snacking can be part of a healthy diet, provided we don’t consume too many calories over the day and choose a healthy balance of food.
For the past three years, Amy Zheng has been encouraging Malaysians to change their snacking habits by switching to healthy food.
Based on her own experience, Zheng says people love to snack when they are working long hours and when they are stressed out. They want food that is convenient, simple and tasty, and don’t really bother about the nutritional content.
And as someone who loves to snack, Zheng knows that choosing the right food will boost energy and help you lose weight.
Through observation, she realised that there is a void in the market, especially in Malaysia, for healthy snacks that cater to local tastesbuds. Those that are available are imported from the US, Europe and Australia and the taste is more suitable for their own markets.
Frustrated at the lack of healthy food options, especially those with Asian flavours, Zheng, who is from Melbourne, Australia quit her job and moved to Kuala Lumpur.
Together with two Malaysians, Ching Yi Lee and Sabrina How whom she met through mutual friends, they set up Amazin’ Graze, with the aim of making tasty, healthy Asian-inspired snacks for everyone.
After experimenting for three months with healthy ingredients and traditional Asian flavours, they launched their first products — granolas and nut mixes. The products include salted gula melaka granola, matcha green tea granola, pandan coconut nut mix, tom yum kaffir lime nut mix and coconut curry lime nut mix.
“We want to raise awareness on healthy eating and to change the way Malaysians snack. We want to produce high-quality food that meet their tastesbuds. We use local ingredients because we want products that are full of interesting flavours.
“We know there is a market here for healthy snacks if they are of high-quality and with local flavours. Malaysians love the strong flavour of curry, pandan and coconut and we are giving them the choice of healthy and tasty food.”
NUTRITIONALLY BALANCED GRAZE
To make the products more appealing for the local market, Amazin’ Graze has also come out with seasonal products for Hari Raya, Christmas and Chinese New Year.
For Hari Raya, it introduced limited edition products such as pengat pisang granola, rose macadamia granola and rendang and satay nut mixes.
For Christmas, the flavours are gingerbread granola, fruitcake granola, cinnamon spiced nut mix and caramel pecan almond butter.
For Chinese New Year, the products include red dates granola, love letter granola and longan macadamia nut butter.
Zheng, who is chief executive officer, says the products are healthy as they are nutritionally balanced with a combination of complex carbohydrates, proteins, good fats, antioxidants and fibre that the body needs.
Amazin’ Graze products use traditional steel cut oats, fruits, nuts, seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, olive oil and unrefined sugar such as coconut sugar honey, molasses and maple syrup.
People often avoid carbohydrates and fats as they think these are unhealthy and can lead to weight gain. However, the body needs these nutrients to function, provided that they choose the right carbohydrates and fats, she says.
“Our products are made from complex carbohydrates such as steel cut oats that are full of fibre. They are a better option for weight control and help manage post-meal blood sugar spikes.
“We also use nuts and seeds that provide essential fatty acids, keep skin soft, moderate body temperature and are a great source of alternative energy. Good fats can help lower cholesterol levels and reduce our risk of heart disease.”
Zheng says the perception that healthy food tastes bland is far from the truth because with original food and flavours, they are tasty. Amazin’ Graze’s products are full of traditional and popular flavours that make them healthy and tasty and the quality of ingredients and fresh preparation process also improve the taste of the products, she says.
“We make our products every day. Although their shelf life is between nine and 12 months, the inventory finishes within a week. So when you see the products in the supermarket, they are made a week before.
“For online, the products are fresher because we only make them when there are orders. We make the products today and you get them tomorrow.”
POPULAR FLAVOUR
Although the focus is to produce healthy snacks with Asian flavours, there are also products that combine popular ingredients.
For the granola range, there is the blueberry goji coconut, peanut butter choc chip, pink raspberry, mocha latter vanilla and hazelnut blackforest, which is the best seller.
As for the nut mixes, berry-licious is a combination of mulberries, cranberries, and black raisins mixed with walnuts, almonds and pepitas. Another tasty flavour is the zesty maple glazed that has walnuts, almonds, cashews and pepitas with orange zest and maple syrup.
The company has also introduced the nut butters — roasted and stoned ground to preserve the nutrients and flavours of the nuts. The range include almond, cashew, chocolate coconut hazelnut, vanilla cinnamon almond and the ABC (combination of almonds, brazil nuts and cashews).
Zheng says the company uses at least 80 per cent local ingredients for its products but where possible, follow the evolving taste profile of the society.
“This means that flavours like chocolate, salted caramel, tangy berries are also popular in this part of the world, as much as traditional flavours like coconut, lemongrass and bandung.”
Amazin’ Graze products are now available in 200 supermarkets in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. The online business has customers in Dubai, London, Manila and Brunei. From a team of three people, the company now has 40 employees. The production has also moved from a kitchen to a three-storey building in Kepong.
Amazin’ Graze will open a smoothie bar in November at The Linc, near Jalan Tun Razak. The smoothie and smoothie bowl will include only natural fruits and greens, nuts and seeds, vegan milks, chia seeds and unrefined sweeteners such as coconut sugar and wild honey.
“The smoothie bar is a natural extension of our business because it leverages on our key products such as granolas and nut butters. We are also looking at healthy kids’ snacks, snacks suitable for people with diabetes and instant superfood drinks that people can conveniently make themselves anywhere.
“We are always thinking of new products that we can create and the problems that we can solve to help Malaysia become healthier.”