Teas and veg and soap and refills, oh my!

New health food store wants to become an everyday destination

THERE’S a new healthy player in town, with selections from France and right at home, and it’s all in Glorietta 4.

During the grand opening of Heyday on Jan. 30, BusinessWorld went around the new store and marveled at bars of Marseille soap for P195 (which would cost a bit more online), organic vegetables (some of them at below-supermarket prices), and some meatless options that aren’t present in other stores yet (though some deli meats and dairy are also in stock).

In one corner of the store stand huge apothecary jars of tea (we got rosebuds, blue butterfly pea, and other treats for about P300 for 100 grams), and there are jars and jars of spices (we scored a jar of garam masala for less than P100). There are also scores of health supplements, imported or made by Heyday. Other sections in the store include healthy snacks, a grain and nut refilling station, an organic wine selection, and a beauty section.

REASONABLE PRICES

“We’re reasonable within the average price in the market,” said Eric Poiret, Co-Founder and President of Heyday, when we pointed out the relatively affordable selection. As for the organic produce, he said, “That’s a different process.” They buy mostly rescue crops directly from small farms, thus eliminating price inflation by middlemen. “The idea is that fruits and vegetables need to be affordable.”

Mr. Poiret had been an executive of French store chain Carrefour when it expanded into the Middle East, so he knows about setting up supermarkets.

One of his business partners in the Philippines, Ryan Tan, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Heyday, headed the company that distributes Garmin in the Philippines (which explains the prominent Garmin display in the store, showcasing their health watches and weighing scales).

A HEALTHY OUTLOOK

“We did not start naturally becoming health and wellness-oriented people, but we found our way towards health and wellness independently,” said Mr. Tan. While both profess to living a healthy lifestyle (Mr. Poiret is a fan of preventive medicine and exercise, while Mr. Tan limits his carb intake and practices eating One Meal a Day), Mr. Tan said that the idea for the healthy superstore began during the pandemic. “The spotlight was all over health. There was a global pandemic, and a lot of people were conscious about immunity, about health. —