At Alchemy, founders whip up full-flavour dishes without the guilt

Enterprise Singapore's FoodInnovate programme has supported firms with the commercialisation of over 300 new products. BY SAMANTHA HEO

Published Tue, Aug 24, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Foodtech

LOSING both his grandmothers to diabetes was what motivated Alan Phua - the chief executive officer of Alchemy Foodtech - to come up with innovative food solutions to help address the rate of diabetes in Singapore.

Mr Phua and co-founder Verleen Goh, a food scientist by training, spent five years after the company's incorporation in 2015 to research and develop solutions in the area of food science, and to learn more about how food consumption is related to the disease.

One of the hurdles they faced was coming up with healthier food options while retaining as much of the original taste such that enough people would be convinced and willing to make the switch.

"People are trying healthier alternatives like wholewheat bread, brown rice and multigrain, but it doesn't taste as good and the texture is different, so they find it hard to gi…