Oh, So Healthy was exhibited in IFEX Philippines last September 22-24, 2022, the Philippines' and Asia's largest international trade show. Since its start in 1999 as the Asian Ethnic Food Festival, IFEX has been a place where food companies from all over the world can meet and do business.

After a brief hiatus due to the pandemic, IFEX Philippines came back to its former venue for a three-day event featuring exhibits of unique and inventive food and products to showcase the finest of what local farmers and manufacturers have to offer.

The Katha Awards for Food 2022, one of the highlights of IFEX Philippines, recognized new and inventive Filipino food items. The Katha Awards aim to highlight the Philippines' position as a destination for globally competitive food products. Oh, So Healthy Choco Mango Dipped Crisps received a Katha Award in the category of "Best Snacks or Savory Foods" this year.

To strengthen the competitiveness of regional businesses, Oh So Healthy shared its success with the local farmers who helped found OSH. This sort of opportunity is immensely beneficial to developing the Philippines' local food businesses and expanding their potential beyond their borders.

This opportunity would not have been possible without the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), and IFEX Philippines drew 5,621 participants, including buyers and exhibitors. The next IFEX Show will be held from July 15 to 17, 2023.

Who says you can’t enjoy snacks if you want to look, feel, and be actually healthy? It’s time to rave about guilt-free snacking treats you can munch on any time of the day!

The glow up version of anytime-snacks is now available from OSH! Oh So Healthy! This fresh, new brand is flexing a variety of treats that are deliberately made to promote health and proper nutrition without forcing deprivation, so you can have fun eating in between meals, while doing your homework, playing your favorite mobile game, binge-watching on Netflix, or just hanging out with the gang.

“Healthy food need not be bland and boring anymore,” says Almay Gaw-See, the food innovator at the helm of Innovative Packaging Industry Corporation, the maker of OSH! “Our brand is synonymous to great-tasting, guilt-free snacks of unsurpassed quality.

Promoting healthy Pinoy lifestyle 

“OSH! also makes it a commitment to continue spreading the word about the importance of living a healthier lifestyle and making better choices when it comes to food,” See says. Needless to say, the brand is leading by example. 

The sustainable snack brand boasts of plant-based products that are non-GMO, low in calories, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, preservative-free, and non-fried. OSH! defies the conventions by turning popular local fruits and crops into innovative, healthy snacks—produced after meticulous research and development processes. 

Read the full Article at Lifestyle Inquirer Website

How can we not love food when it is our respite? Sometimes simple snacking brings us a profound sense of joy and contentment. Take, for instance, a bag of chips. It’s an irresistible pleasure, but we can never compromise on our health. So, we turn to low-calorie, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and vegan-friendly options.

Oh So Healthy! crisps are made from all-natural fruits and vegetables that are pureed, blended, and air baked, never fried. Uniquely crisp, unlike other dried fruits, each product is prepared using only natural, high-quality ingredients. Both tasty and healthy, OSH crisps are filled with nutrients that the body needs.

Founder Almay Gaw See chronicles the history of the product, “Initially OSH wanted to offer affordable products that are genuinely natural and healthy. Products that trickle down to the masses and the marginalized sector are usually full of fillers and preservatives because those are easier and cheaper to produce."

"We thought it would be amazing if we could create a product that the masses can afford and you’re not worried that you’re feeding the children stomach fillers without nutritional value. It was a challenge for us to come up with a hero product." 

The product is manufactured by Innovative Packaging Industry Corporation (IPIC) which has been operating in the Philippines for almost 20 years now as one of the top toll manufacturers for multinational companies in the country.

Read the full article on the Philippines Star Website

Every great product entails not just the fusion of unique, revolutionizing ideas, but also the
joint effort of skillful and dedicated individuals who are willing to create a positive ripple
effect and offer something new to the people. And if you’ve ever wondered whose hands are
behind every piece of the crunchy, flavorful OSH Pops, let’s get to know the Barangay Burol
Farmers Cooperative–OSH’s partner in bringing you these new healthy snacks.

Who Are They?

Founded in July 2020, the Barangay Burol Farmers Cooperative is an organization for and
by the farmers of Calamba, Laguna. One of their main objectives is to promote agriculture
and organic products to the Filipino community. Within a short span of time, the cooperative
was able to double the number of its members from 20 to 40 farmers, and secure a contract
with the Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB) of the National Seed Foundation (NSF).

What They Do

Apart from supplying their own, handpicked maize or corn products to manufacturers like
OSH, the Barangay Burol Farmers Cooperative helps improve the livelihood of the people in
the community by conducting various seminars and workshops that promote organic
farming. They work with government organizations and NGOs to provide valuable resources
and information, and further hone the skills of their members.
The cooperative has also played a significant role in distributing aid or “ayuda” to the farmers
in the area during the midst of the pandemic. It acted as a channel for the financial support
and resources provided by the government.

The Ripple Effects they Make
Through working with OSH and other manufacturers, the Barangay Burol Farmers
Cooperative offers healthier and more sustainable options to the Filipino people. They pour
their passion and skills in crafting products like OSH pops that revolutionize the way we
enjoy our snacks and take away the guilt in our every bite.

Here’s a poppin’, flavorful way to enjoy snack time with zero guilt and regrets!  These new popped corn crisps by Oh So Healthy!® are definitely something you shouldn’t miss out on! Let me give you a few reasons why.

First of all, Every bite of OSH Pops White Cheddar bursts with that subtly salty and creamy flavor you can't get enough of. The rich and tangy combo of OSH Pops Sour Cream is sure to tickle your taste buds, while the all-time favorite OSH Pops Smokey BBQ evokes memories of fun bonding moments with family and friends.

But what’s really great about these OSH Pops is that they’re baked and seasoned ONLY with natural ingredients. And the crisps themselves? Well, they’re made from select high-protein corn grown locally and organically by the Barangay Burol Farmers cooperative. Thus, you can enjoy your snack time without worrying about your fat and calorie intake after finishing a whole bag (no one has to know! *winks*). Plus, you can rest assured that every crisp you savor is non-GMO and is free from any artificial preservatives. 

That’s right! You’ve got all the freedom to binge these flavorful, crispy pops with no guilt and zero regrets! Hence, whether you’re on a road trip with your barkada, having a movie night with the fam, or pulling off an all-nighter for your thesis, you can always count on OSH Pops to give you that completely satisfying snacking experience.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a pack or two  of these better-for-you snacks NOW and let the crunch do the talking. You can check out our website at imohsohealthy.com or head over to our official Shopee and Lazada stores to place your orders.

By: Hannah Kyle

Snacks from Oh So Healthy can be your alternative for eating those favorite junkfood of yours. Check this one out! Watch it now!

Kimchi Crisp is literally Napa cabbage kimchi turned crunchy. What has me hooked is the complexity, the burst of flavors, and the various textures that play in my mouth.

This is the kind of chip that I eat—tangy, spicy, with a slightly sweet finish.

Almay Gaw of Oh So Healthy! impressed me with her ingenious line of healthy snacks in crunchy chip form. Her creations are a pleasant blend of fruits and vegetables.

Having manufactured sauces for multinational companies, Gaw and her team decided to venture into unchartered territory three years ago.

“We had to do something we had not done before, that is, to create a ‘unicorn’ product, something that is completely healthy yet yummy,” she said. “We felt that the usual products offered are either yummy but junk, or healthy but taste like paper. We worked on making the two worlds collide.”

Gaw said the new product was the result of “Innovation Mondays,” regular brainstorming sessions where they tackled everything from packaging ideas to process or product improvements.

Last year, Oh So Healthy! fruit crisps became a hit in Europe and Australia, and Kimchi Crisps caused a stir in San Francisco.

She and her staff get a thrill out of seeing people eating and enjoying their products. “Our vision as a team is to bring pride to the Philippines by showing the world we can come up with products that are competitive enough for the mainstream market,” said Gaw.

“When we penetrate the global scene, we uplift our farmers, we help our workers and we bring health and fun to the snacking population,” she added.

Kimchi Crisps are available at Waltermart, Landers, Metro and Landmark.

Specialty coffee bar

I have called on Equilibrium many times to provide a coffee and tea bar for my functions. And I’ve been more than pleased with its beverages and the skill of its baristas.

Recently, the bar’s setup has become prettier, the coffee and coffee concoctions more aromatic, with depth and character.

Equilibrium now uses beans from Curve Coffee Collaborators, whose farmers have upgraded local coffee “to specialty levels” (coffees that get a score of 80 and above are considered specialty).

The partnership looks for different coffee varieties from unique and unfamiliar local origins. This involves educating farmers, providing them with farm implements, and connecting them to financing.

Coffee hunters certified Q graders by the Coffee Quality Institute of America help in the tasks of discovering, grading, roasting and testing coffees.

According to Equilibrium and Curve Coffee’s Cherry Cruz, “What we do is not an easy task, but we take pride in taking one step forward, one farmer at a time.”

Curve has provided four micro farmers and two cooperatives with the necessary tools and knowledge to improve locally grown coffee.

Curve Coffee offers the following bean variants: Atin Ito (80 percent Benguet arabica, 20 percent Mindanao robusta), Maisog (50 percent arabica, 50 percent premium robusta from Mindanao), Hard Work (100 percent arabica single origin), Atok Benguet, Tuba Benguet, Ampucao Benguet, Bukidnon arabica, and fine robusta from Lake Napalit in Bukidnon.

For coffee and tea bar service and for Curve Coffee, contact Equilibrium (02) 8623041 to 43, or 09228337374.

The Oh So Healthy! success story

MANILA, Philippines — No matter how old you are, it is never too late to do something you want.

This holds true for Filipina-Chinese businesswoman Almay Gaw-See, chief executive officer of Innovative Packaging Industry Corp. (IPC), a Bulacan-based food firm that manufactures fruit crisps using purple yam and camote under the Oh So Healthy! brand.

See knew it was risky to open a food business  but she didn’t want to miss this chance.

Having been involved in the manufacture of consumer goods for multinational firms for over  20 years, See decided to enter the snack food market.

A healthy alternative to snack food staples, Oh So Healthy! crisps are  made from 100 percent real fruits. Each of its  products are prepared using the most natural ingredients and without any frying or  oil.

“Our commitment is to deliver products that help support the local agriculture. We source our products from local producers that advocate for a sustainable and diversified future for farmers,” See said.

After extensive research and development, See and her 12-man team combined certain fruits and  came up with three variants (all halal, Kosher and HACCP certified) — Mango Sweet Potato, Purple Yam Banana Coconut and Guava Purple Yam Banana.

“Since this is food, you want to make sure it is not harmful to people and all your claims are science-based and not just from the wind. We want to be the most trusted snack without shortchanging our clients,” See said.

See quickly grew her business to the point where her snacks are now sold in major supermarkets and stores nationwide such as Rustan’s, Robinsons, SM, Landmark, Starbucks and Mercury Drug.  

She  got her food products on retail shelves in just a span of one year, a big accomplishment for a small producer like IPC.

“Getting into supermarket aisles wasn’t easy. I didn’t realize that you have to negotiate, wait for your turn for months. The whole process was just so tedious,” See said.

Apart from  supermarkets, Oh So Healthy! has penetrated the e-commerce market through Lazada, Shopee, Honestbee, Beauty MNL, Shopinas and Metromart.

Oh So Healthy! has also found its way overseas. Its products can now be bought   at Lotte supermarkets in Korea, Singapore’s NTUC FairPrice, RedMart and Cold Storage, Hong Kong’s Sogo, China’s Ole’ Supermarket, Seafood City (a Filipino supermarket chain in the US)and Japan’s Yata Supermarket.

“Our vision for the long term is to hit the mainstream market in the US because we want to bring pride to the Filipinos and our Filipino farmers,”  See said.

The best part of the story is that that business is making a difference in people’s lives.

IPC has forged an agreement with farmers from  Soccsksargen to supply  purple yam and camote for its crisp production. It buys the commodity  at a price of P35 per kilo, allowing farmers to earn at least P350,000 a month.

“It’s a win-win for us. We are not only helping the farmers. We are also  assured of the quality of our product requirements,” See said.

Oh So Healthy! sources majority of its raw materials from Mindanao.  But given the high cost of  transportation, IPC is considering developing a manufacturing facility in Davao.

“We have to address the supply chain. Right now, we can still manage because we are not yet that scaled up but as we grow, we have to decide  where the raw materials will come from,” she said.

As Oh So Healthy! celebrates its third anniversary, See has developed a sense of purpose that fuels her passion to  improve the livelihood of small farmers.

“This has been an  eye-opener for me. I am so thankful that we decided to do this.  I feel so  fulfilled compared to what I used to do before. I have learned so much and it is true what they say that you should consider yourself blessed when you can be thankful for the hard work that you put in,” See said.

“My biggest takeaway is that you really have to love what you do. It’s like I found a new passion. I have been telling my kids that if they do something, they should help humanity in their own way,” she added.

Almay Gaw and Charles Tiu don’t believe that healthy has to mean bad-tasting. Both with a background in manufacturing and quality systems, Gaw and Tiu set out to prove that sentiment with Oh So Healthy! Fruit Crisps. This innovative all-natural snack is unlike what you would typically expect from fruit crisps—they are not thick, chewy, slices of fruit, but instead a blended purée of local fruits that are dried into a thin, craggy, crunchy, flat square that is as easy to bite through as a thick cut kettle chip.

Oh So Healthy! Fruit Crisps come in 3 flavors (all Halal, Kosher, ISO and HACCP certified) made from local produce: Guava Purple Yam Banana, Purple Yam Banana Coconut, and Mango Sweet Potato Banana. The first flavor is ideal for those with a taste for the sour, with the guava flavor coming strongly through and following it up with a mellow banana note. The second, the closest to more savory flavors as the ube offers the forefront taste with a coconut-y twinge. The third is, unsurprisingly, the sweetest, with the mango shining through and the banana making an appearance towards the end.

Instead of frying the crisps, they are dried using heat to remove moisture, which results in a longer shelf-life than if they were fried. This also ensures that natural enzymes are maintained, so you can “snack smart” with crisps that are high in potassium and other nutrients, with no artificial additives or sugar added. Each variant is made up of just eight ingredients, and come in resealable bags of bright colored hues that have caught our eye as well as buyers in Australia, USA, Canada and China. The crisps can be purchased at Shopwise or Rustan’s for only PHP 95 a bag, a price well-worth a snack that may change the way you think of healthy snacks forever.

Nowadays, it’s not that hard to look for healthy food to munch on. You just go to malls and you’ll find them in no time. The want for anything wellness-related is increasing, but it can get quite costly. Luckily for us, one local brand wants to help us achieve our fitness goals in a much affordable way. Check out Oh So Healthy!

Oh So Healthy! is a 100% locally made snack line with 100% natural ingredients turned into Fruit Crisps. The handpicked flavors are Filipino favorites like mango, banana, guava, coconut, and purple yam. Those components are then turned into flaky and crispy chips without the use of oils. It is generally much healthier since it does not make use of unhealthy fats, artificial sweeteners, or preservatives. 

This flavor is the sweetest of them all. You might think that the prevailing taste would be the banana, but it can only be noticed in the aftertaste. Upon biting the chips, you’ll immediately taste mango—almost like a crispy Dried Mango. If Mango is your favorite flavor (with a hint of banana at the end), this is perfect for you.  

Purple Yam, locally known as ube, is a Filipino favorite. It’s semi-sweet with a savory taste that you’ll crave for over and over again. Turned into a chip added with banana, it’s a delicious way to fill your stomach with vitamins and nutrients.  The hints of coconut make it more flavorful in terms of sweetness.

Personally, I have not tasted a real guava before, so I thought I would not know what it would taste like. As I munched on this flavor, though, I immediately recognized a distinct flavor that’s slightly sour, but still pleasant to the tastebuds—it’s surprisingly delicious! The taste of guava really packs a punch and it goes well—believe it or not—with banana and purple yam.

The Verdict 

My favorite is definitely the Guava Purple Yam Banana flavor. Honestly, I thought I would go for the Purple Yam Banana Coconut since ube  is my all-time favorite flavor, but the Guava Purple Yam Banana is something else. I made my friend try it and he also chose this as his favorite flavor. One friend of mine commented on my post and said she could eat the Guava Purple Yam Banana all day. I think that goes to show just how good it is! If you’re not convinced, try it yourself. 

Oh So Healthy! Fruit Crisps are available at any Metromart, Rustan’s, SM Snack Exchange, and Shopwise Supermarket for only Php95, way cheaper compared to other international brands that usually cost more than Php200. Aside from that, I love how we can help local farmers by patronizing Oh So Healthy! because it’s a way of supporting our country’s agriculture. 

*You can also order online at Beauty MNL and Lazada. 

Try this yummy snack and get ready to show off your beach-ready body this summer!