With peer-reviewed research and a lavish sense of flavor, WeTheTrillions takes healthy meal delivery to the next level.
Fresh mango and roasted bell pepper Thai salad
If boiled down to an elevator pitch, WeTheTrillions sounds like a business that resembles many others: It’s a healthy meal delivery service. Ads for these companies dominate the podcast airwaves and streaming service sphere with words like “organic,” “fresh” and “whole,” aimed at making customers feel good about themselves for eating chia seed pudding because it’s been branded as a health food. But Bay Area-based WeTheTrillions founder and CEO Lamiaa Bounahmidi pushes back against this generic idea of healthiness.
“Food labels are driven by trends,” she says. “If you’re looking for food advice by doing a search online, you’re going to be very confused. The real data is hidden inscientific research.”
WeTheTrillions works closely with clinicians and patients to serve meals that cater to those with diabetes, anemia, digestive problems, even menstruation issues. Thecompany spent five years in R&D beforelaunching, and bases its model on third- party-peer-reviewed research. Users can be either diagnosed patients who know theyneed help with a specific condition or oneswho are undiagnosed with a goal, such as reducing bloating, building energy orgetting off medication. Bounahmidi’s team isavailable 24/7 to record data and adjust plans as needed.
Multiseed crackers with three kinds of hummus
“Health is not just one thing,” says Bounahmidi, who can speak loquaciously about soil nutrients, gut biomes andsugar cravings’ effects on the brain. “It’sall interdependent.”
Seven years ago, she was working as a data engineer in the pharmaceutical sector and had an “aha” moment. For all the billions her industry was spending to treat expensive conditions, prevention could be much moreeffective. However, the food and medicalindustries didn’t speak the same language: “One is about pleasure. The other leverages precision. There’s nothing in the middle about precision and prevention,” she says.
Her public-interest corporation prides itself on its indulgence; the meals are 100% plant-based, but their names slide seductivelyoff the tongue: eggplant caviar and tomato jam tart; mango-saffron lassi soup; chocolate mousse sprinkled with sea salt, pistachios and raspberries. The kitchen has developed hundreds of recipes, mostly using California ingredients, because the company needs an abundance of combinations in order to meeteach person’s specific needs.
Mango lassi soup
The goal is to create a model that is consistent and proven enough for the insurance companies to cover it. That way,people with lower incomes can benefit, especially if they’re not able to afford all thedoctors visits and testing required to get a diagnosis. But for now, Bounahmidi says she has seen a spike in demand due to the coronavirus, as immunosuppressed patients prefer not to grocery shop and others send WeTheTrillions as a care package to loved ones.
“All these experiences we’ve been through in 2020 should change how we tackle health,” she says. “One of my main goals is to really make sure people are diagnosed very fast and are empowered with information.”
Photography by: Courtesy of WeTheTrillions
