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Weekend grub: Wholesome Foods brings nutritious smoothies right to your doorstep

Weekend grub: Wholesome Foods brings nutritious smoothies right to your doorstep

Eating your fruits is way better when they taste like yummy dessert
Updated 24 Mar, 2017

Cold, refreshing and colourful, smoothies are the perfect drinks for those dog days of summer.

The thirst-quenchers are great for outdoor entertaining, summer barbeques or even as a nutritional breakfast for the person on the go.

But if you've been on the lookout for fresh smoothies in Karachi, you probably know it was slim pickings out there...until now.

Where to go:

Well, nowhere actually. Wholesome Foods is a new delivery-only venture that's taken Karachi health-nuts by storm.

They bring you an exciting range of healthy, all-natural (no sugar added) smoothies blended with imported berries and other fruits.

They're still new, so delivery takes longer than expected sometimes. That being said, the smoothies always arrive chilled, so no complaints!

A delicious smoothie combination of strawberries, cranberries and red currant is the Berry Good Day
A delicious smoothie combination of strawberries, cranberries and red currant is the Berry Good Day

When to go:

Days of operation are Monday to Saturday, with delivery hours from noon to 10pm.

What to order:

Currently, Wholesome Foods has five different smoothies on the menu and let us just tell you, each one is delicious (yep, even the green one)!

Smoothie menu
Smoothie menu

The smoothies are made using Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) fruits and vegetables that are healthier than regular frozen foods and fresh foods!

Owner Imara Hashwani shared with Images, "By the time fruits and vegetables are harvested, loaded and reach us at retail markets, they've lost a lot of their nutrition. IQF foods are blast frozen at low temperatures in plants located close to farms, so their nutrition is locked in at an early stage. IQF foods can retain their nutrition for up to a year."

"IQF fruits and vegetables aren't clumped together like regular frozen foods," she added. "Each kernel of corn, each berry, for example, is frozen separately and then packaged. So the cell walls of the fruits and vegetables aren't damaged and nutritional value isn't affected."

Berry Good Day and Tornado are huge hits at the Images office; these concoctions are tangy yet sweet, pack a healthy punch and are surprisingly filling. We definitely noticed that we eat less at lunch on the days we order smoothies to kickstart our morning.

The Tornado seems to be one of their best-sellers
The Tornado seems to be one of their best-sellers

Another favourite is Tropical Zest; the mango-pineapple combo with a hint of mint is a big win and instantly makes you feel rejuvenated.

Wholesome Foods also offers flash-frozen European berries and vegetables (pre-cut and washed) so if you want to give making your own smoothies at home a try, you can do that too.

Damage on the pocket:

Priced at Rs295 a pop, we think it's totally worth the money, keeping in mind the quantity and quality of the ingredients used.

Comments

jA-Australia Mar 24, 2017 01:42pm
Smoothies are not healthy, and neither is orange juice. Both contain ridiculous amounts of sugar compared to eating the actual fruit. Also, with fruit you will get the fiber and other nutrients which are thrown away in smoothies.
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ABE Mar 24, 2017 02:44pm
Rs. 295, especially with fresh imported fruits, is a bargain! In Europe you can easily shell out 4-5 euros for that size.
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Falcon1 Mar 24, 2017 02:46pm
@jA-Australia - Apparently you've never had a smoothie, and don't even know how to make it... If you use the entire fruit and blend it with other ingredients, how is the "fiber and other nutrients thrown away"? Visit Jamba Juice or other outlets and see how they make one, on the spot.
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waheed Mar 24, 2017 03:03pm
Sugarless content is a welcome addition, but calorie content needs to be checked, secondly no need to use European fruits, Fresh local and natural is best way to go.
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A. Khan Mar 24, 2017 11:17pm
We seem to have a strange fetish for anything imported. Having lived abroad, I can confidently say that Pakistani fruit tastes better than anything I have had overseas. The fruit there looks great but has no flavor. So to see "imported" being touted as a selling point, and frozen fruit at that, when fresh local produce is available, really riles me. If cranberries and other berries are not available, try growing them. As an example, up to 1990s strawberries were rarely available but now every street vendor appears to be selling these.
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shuaib muhammad Mar 25, 2017 12:14am
With 295 RS, i would rather buy about 3 Kilos of Mangoes and make mango milk shake and feed whole family.
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