Muscat: It was a strange transition for an engineering field accounting manager to turn to the food supply business but for Yasmeen Al Alawi, it was always her dream.
Al Alawi was never a person that ate unhealthy food and she always had a love for cooking and enjoyed creating new recipes for her family and friends. Her respect for healthy food and cooking started while doing her MBA in Japan. “I appreciate the way the Japanese have a healthy attitude towards food from their smaller food portions to their high consumption of fish and fresh vegetables,” says Al Alawi. “Japanese cuisine was my entry into the healthy food world. After my first child’s birth, I wanted to transfer this lifestyle to my small family by adopting healthy food practices.”
Her compay, Sprout, stemmed from an idea while she was working in an oilfield services company in Muscat. Hunger at lunch time and the lack of choices in Oman saw Al Alawi and her colleagues frequently turning to fast food. “I wanted to create a healthy alternative at lunch that was unique, fresh, healthy and made from the scratch. I also wanted to provide healthy desserts free from refined sugar, unhealthy oils and made with healthier flours. Sprout was born. The name Sprout exemplifies our mission at Sprout: to cultivate a healthy lifestyle for the people of Oman by offering healthy and delicious food with minimal environmental impact,” she explains.
The COVID-19 pandemic has in a way contributed to a growth spurt in Sprout as healthy food intake has been thriving in this environment. “Due to this pandemic, we see people giving more thought to eating healthy to reduce illness and obesity,” she says. “At Sprout even the materials used are environment friendly including the packaging and cutlery that uses bio degradable products that decompose easily and quickly.”
Al Alawi has the complete support of her husband, father, mother, in laws, siblings and friends who are also her active customers.
