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Journalism of Courage
In the last decade, health food has graduated from being just a fad to a serious option for many of the city’s populace. Perhaps a fallout of beauty pageants, where slim figures attribute their curves to carefully planned diet of health food, now even corporates are taking to it in a big way. The modern corporate has all the entrapments required to ensure its employees stay the extra hour but not at the cost of their health. Thus, there is the in-built gymnasium, the indoor swimming pool and even the pre-plated health food menu for their top executives.
Says Gopa Datta of Nouvelle Cuisine, “The awareness about health food has increased over the last five years or so. While the interest from individual clients have always been enthusiastic, now even companies and offices have started placing orders for light meals for their executives. Datta’s clients include the top executives of Wockhardt, Rahejas’ construction firm and Jaslok Hospital. An average preplated meal includes a soup or a salad, a fusion cuisine main course and desert. She makes sure that a plate does not cross 800 calories.
Of course the prerogative of fixing the menu lies with both the client and the caterer. “We sit with the client and according to likes and dislikes draw up a menu,†says Datta.
Master-chef Sanjeev Kapoor feels that the trend of corporates opting for health food has the scope to catch on. However he feels that creating more awareness is the order of the day. “Yes, it is a trend but the pace at which it s progressing is less than the interest it is creating. There are more people talking about it than those actually indulging in it,†he says. While this has resulted in the marginal health food clinetele increasing slightly, Kapoor feels the issue has to be looked at in totality. “It is all very well to have soups and salads on the corporate lunch menu. However, it is very important to look at each person’s needs separately.
Needs and systems vary from person to person and it is important to understand each person’s system well and not generalise.†The change is visible though. “The oily bhajias and pakoras that greeted me whener I visited the Zee TV office earlier has now been replaced by fat-free, oil-free snacks,†says Kapoor.
Along with high pay packets and performance-enhancing incentives, food and health are also on the priority list for multinational companies. And the changing look of the executive’s lunch is a part of making him feel cared for. While this trend maybe a part of the corporate game plan, it is also true that the number of people reaching for that light meal has shown an increase, albeit marginally.
