What better way to celebrate Veganuary than by catching up with Alex Petrides, co-founder of Allplants, a chef-made range of vegan ready meals bursting with nothing but plant-powered goodness. Today he shares how he discovered his own version of self-care and utilising the power of breath to stay balanced, alongside the inspiring story of how Allplants came to be.
- Tell us a little about the story of Allplants.
Allplants is a two-year old food start-up aiming to inspire the next billion plant-powered people. We believe food is the bridge between people and planet, so put social impact first, while serving the world delicious, plant-based food, tips and tools.
It all started 3 years ago. After shifting to a plant-based diet, my brother and I hatched a plan to make veggies the star of our planet’s plate. Switching to a plant-based diet is the most impactful way to reduce your personal environmental footprint and with only ¼ of Brits getting their 5-a-day, we became fixated on helping people and planet thrive.
To begin, my brother and I realised we could make it delicious and easy for everyone to eat more plants by delivering chef-cooked meals (originally by foot, bus or uber, now by courier!) to your home. Today, our kitchen is preparing 12,000 meals each week. Our chefs are brilliant and all our dishes are totally vegan, nutritionally balanced and ready to eat from your freezer. It’s healthy, comfort food - think luscious Lasagnes, Rigatoni Bolognese, Bhaji Daal, and Cashew Mac.
- How important is self-care to you, and do you often implement it into your regular rituals?
I was notoriously bad at self-care, but over the past 2 years have been introducing more and more self-care habits to my daily routine. Sleep, exercise, food choices, alone time, connection time, time with nature, stretching, writing lists, moisturizing, booking treatments or massages as frequently as my pocket can afford. They’re all in fine balance and crucial to keeping me well-oiled, happy and able to be at my best.
- What keeps you feeling balanced on the daily?
The simplest, but most commonly forgotten, way this impacts my day to day, is to try always reconnecting with my breath when I realise it isn’t my core point of focus. A lot of what I do can be done better when following my intuition rather than falling down the rabbit-hole of overthinking. Anchoring each activity around breathing keeps me aware that I’m human and allows me to absorb all the subtleties of my intuitive thought.
- What element of your work is most lighting you up at the moment?
Starting to share more of what happens behind the scenes at allplants. We’ve brought together such a passionate, talented team of chefs, foodies, health-enthusiasts, creatives and general admirers of slow, compassionate living. There is also now such a big community of people who eat allplants every week. So celebrating that with meet-ups, festivals and supperclubs :)
- Share with us a quote that gives you daily inspiration.
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
- How do you practice nourishment every day?
I mostly eat intuitively and much like most allplants customers, I don’t plan my food choices very far in advance. I’m also 99.9% plant-based. I leave the 0.1% there so I don’t see it as a failure if life gets in the way of my intention to be totally vegan.
- What are some of your favourite ways to wind down?
Yoga is my #1. Other than that, almost every evening, I light up (a lot) of candles and cuddle up on the sofa with my wife and crazy little puppy.
- Ingredients-wise, what are your three non-negotiables in the kitchen?
Olive oil, salt, garlic.
- Now tell us, do you have a guilty pleasure?
Chocolate in any and every which way.
- Matcha or turmeric latte?
Turmeric