Health-seeking shoppers pick balanced meals via labeled diet boxes

Marimo Lai, a 53-year-old clerk in Hong Kong, sat in the canteen and took out a blood glucose monitor from her bag before having lunch.

Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes two years ago, testing her blood sugar level  has become part of her daily routine.

The results showed her blood sugar was stable. Marimo has been ordering her food under a personalized meal plan for two years.

“Ever since I found this kind of lunch box, it has been much easier to control my blood sugar,” she said.

Marimo’s food is from Nutribute, a catering company that claims to provide a balanced diet. A typical meal costs $63 per set and more for special needs such as diabetes and pregnancy.

Nutribite has sold 22 million meal boxes in 2024, and sold their products at more than 100 Pacific Coffee shops and Hung Fook Tong shops in Hong Kong, showing more Hongkongers want to embrace a healthier diet with convenience labeled nutritional lunch boxes, said Susan So, the general manager of Nutribite.

At present, about 700,000 people in Hong Kong  suffer from diabetes, according to the Hong Kong Diabetes Federation, and it will surge to 920 ,000 by 2030, accounting for 13% of the total population.

Terry Ting, 50, is a registered dietitian.

“As more people recognize the importance of a balanced diet especially after the pandemic  but lack the  time and money to cook for themselves, the demand for such services will grow,” he said.

He thinks these food companies should follow government guidelines in their nutrition labels.

Other healthy food delivery platforms in Hong Kong include WeBite, Eatology, Fittery, Nosh and Calfit.

WeBite specialises in group meal deliveries to offices and campuses. 

“They started to provide this service to Hong Kong Baptist University in November 2024, and expanded to Hong Kong City University in December 2024,” said Li Sirui, the manager of WeBite for university sale.

“We sold over 3,000 lunch boxes per day last year.” said Acen Jiang, CEO of WeBite.

Compared to most other healthy food providers in HK, such as Fittery with HK$92 for each set, HK$100 each set for Eatlogy, HK$90 each set for Nosh, Nutribite and WeBite are cheaper.  

Simon Wang, is a lecturer from HKBU Language Centre.

“I enjoy eating their meals, but I hope they provide enough information about diet data analysis and how the different meals influence my health, in addition to nutrition labels,” he said.

Winnie Zhang, 33, ordered the lunch box two to three times a week to maintain her weight.

“They are low in salt and oil with the right amount of protein and adequate vegetables, which helps me lose at least two kilograms in a week,” Zhang said.

According to the Population Health Survey 2020-22 conducted by the Department of Health, 54.6% of Hong Kong’s people aged 15 to 84 were overweight and obese, and over 90% of people aged 15 or above had inadequate daily intake of fruit and vegetables. 

Adequate intake of vegetables and fruits helps prevent obesity and many non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to the Department of health.

So said that they design meals according to the Chinese Food Guide Pagoda which is  updated every two years.

“And we let consumers input their age and health conditions for AI to generate diet plans,” So said.

The Chinese Food Guide Pagoda presents the amount and proportion of various foods for adults to consume each day in the form of a five-storey pagoda, according to the 2022 Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents.

It shows adults should consume the most cereals and tubers per day, followed by fruit and vegetables, animal products, dairy and soybeans, and the least oils and salt.

“The Pagoda would never be outdated,” said Ting. ”People should not follow the current trend of just receiving protein out of carbohydrates, or eating super food such as avocados everyday.”

Different from the Western healthy meal provided by other platforms, Nutribite focuses on Asian cuisine to add 20 more dishes, including Thai, Korean, and Japanese dishes.

Nutribite has built a "nutrient testing center", including a scales room, physical and chemical room, high greenhouse, reagent room, and each lunch box will go through eight processes of nutrient testing and have the nutrition label, So said.

“Companies may design a meal set with high protein and low carbohydrates in order to fulfill market demand,” Ting said.“But taking in too much protein can lead to kidney and liver diseases.” 

Jiang said they are working on a new feature for the app to improve the accuracy of diet plans.

“Users need to upload a medical report or answer around 20 health-related questions set by a professional dietitian, so an AI model can provide them with a more precise diet plan,” he said.

There were some 11,130 tonnes of municipal solid waste disposed of at landfills each day in 2022, about 30% of these were food waste, according to the Environmental Protection Department.

To decrease food waste and meet the consumers’ weight maintenance needs, the amount of Nutribite’s meal is carefully designated to be 70 to 80% full for every person, said So.

The lunch box containers are made of bamboo fibre which is biodegradable and compostable, and meet the National Food Safety Standard, according to the Nutribite official website.

According to the Eatlogy official website, it is unavoidable to generate waste during the delivery process, but they offer semi-vegetarian menus to encourage customers to lower their carbon footprint while enjoying their food.

"Digital eating is not only a trend but also a lifestyle shift," said Jiang. “We can make healthier choices more easily with technology evolution.”