Latest news with #Sakara
Newsweek
7 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
Women's Global Impact Forum 2025: Former Pepsi CEO on Juggling Career and Family
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. "There's a lot of women who serve as the backbone of the country." That was one of the closing lines from Indra K. Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, at Newsweek's inaugural Women's Global Impact Forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at Newsweek's headquarters in New York City. The one-day event, sponsored by MyEyeDr., with partners Starz and TriNet, brought together 300 senior executives and rising stars across multiple industries to celebrate the achievements women have made, connect with inspiring women and find practical solutions to overcome some of the biggest challenges they still face in the workplace. On the stage, leaders from companies like the WNBA, SoulCycle, Nissan, Samsung, Hulken, Coach, Estée Lauder and Girl Scouts of the USA shared personal anecdotes about their professional journeys and the struggles of being women in the workplace. Chloe Coscarelli, Allison Stransky, Tanya Taylor and Nicole Wegman speak on the "Fostering Creativity While Impacting the Bottom Line" panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World... Chloe Coscarelli, Allison Stransky, Tanya Taylor and Nicole Wegman speak on the "Fostering Creativity While Impacting the Bottom Line" panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World Trade Center in New York City. More Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek While the conversations noted the unique challenges for industries like sports, fashion, retail, beauty, tech and health care, the women on and off stage found common ground. Most of the women in the room have experienced discrimination, failures, company reconstruction and imposter syndrome. At the core of the conversations, each speaker exemplified what it means to be a strong and effective leader today and in the future. Prioritizing wellness During the "Prioritizing Wellness" panel, speakers agreed that good leaders take their wellness seriously. Sakara co-founder Danielle DuBoise stressed the importance of "checking your engine light" by listening to your body to prevent burnout. "So I'd say the first thing is to really get to this place where you can tell when your body is listening," she said. "And then second is, once you listen, like I know my throat gets a little funky, I say to myself, 'OK, I need more rest. I need more greens and plants, or I just needed to tap out for a little bit.'" Sakara co-founder Danielle DuBoise joined WeightWatchers CMO Kim Boyd and SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster for the 'Prioritizing Wellness Makes Us More Impactful' panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Sakara co-founder Danielle DuBoise joined WeightWatchers CMO Kim Boyd and SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster for the 'Prioritizing Wellness Makes Us More Impactful' panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster said leaders "set the weather" for their organizations, so it's important to be consistent. "I can tell when I'm not investing in my own wellness because of the way that I start to set the temperature in the organization, and that's not a good thing." "Over time, when I invested in my wellness, I'm happy and a better human," she said. "When you're healthy, you are happy and we all deserve to be happy." As the leader of an exercise company, she sees every day how endorphins make her clients and instructors happier, think clearly, communicate better and help enable them to better lead and inspire. Seeking out and being a mentor Mentorship was an essential tenet that has allowed many of the women to thrive/climb the corporate ladder. Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Bonnie Barczykowski said it best on the "Shaping an Equitable Future" panel: "Girls achieve what they can see." Girl Scouts USA CEO Bonnie Barczykowski listens to an audience questions during the "Women at Work: Shaping an Equitable Future" panel at the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Girl Scouts USA CEO Bonnie Barczykowski listens to an audience questions during the "Women at Work: Shaping an Equitable Future" panel at the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025. Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek Allyson Witherspoon, the chief marketing officer of Nissan U.S., said on the "Leadership: The New Measures of Success" that she is grateful for the many male mentors she's had who took a chance on her throughout her career. But it wasn't until she worked with a female CEO that she said she began to "understand what it took to be a leader like that, and then what it's like to be a woman in that role." "This was the first time that I saw somebody, I kind of thought, maybe I can be in a leadership position too," she said. Clinique and Dermatological Brands general manager Kelly Fanning shared how her parent company, Estée Lauder, has a "reverse mentorship" where junior executives mentor senior leadership. Through that, Fanning said she learned how to look at TikTok, Sephora shopping and AI tools in new ways. "So the reverse network has been awesome," she said. "It's fun to be able to see that executive level, you're still learning." Using experience from other jobs Both on stage and in the audience, the women in attendance share a lifetime of experiences. But, as with many successful people, their journeys were not linear. Whether it's a promotion or a complete industry change, a good leader can take all their cumulative experiences and skills and bring them into a new role. Those soft skills or traditionally female skills have often been seen as a detriment in the workplace, but the women at this event said it is those very things that have allowed them to succeed. As she built the optometry network MyEyeDr., Sue Downes recognized that women tend to be more attentive to others' behaviors and have more compassion for other people's needs. She told the audience that being a leader doesn't mean forgetting who you are as women. "Don't be afraid to be a really great mom," she advised. "If I'm in a board meeting and my child calls, I'm excusing myself. Do what you want to do and don't be judged by anyone else." WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks with Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham for a fireside chat during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World Trade Center in New York City. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks with Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham for a fireside chat during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World Trade Center in New York City. Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek Before she was the commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert was the first female CEO of Deloitte. When she made the jump from consulting to sports, she said she was apprehensive at first because she knew "nothing about being a commissioner running a sports league." "I've been a CPA. I've been an accountant. I've worked in the pharma industry. I worked in banking clients. I've worked in consumer products, but I don't know anything about running sports," she said. But after landing the position, she quickly found that a lot of her skills were transferable – including strategy planning to take care of players, fans and shareholders, scenario planning during the draft in the COVID-19 pandemic and executive marketing to transform an under-resourced team into a league with over 100 million fans. Listening and delivering on stakeholder needs A good leader is one who listens – to colleagues, customers and trends. This includes leaning into trends that align with company values and goals and starting from a place of learning in the boardroom. Hulken CEO Alex Schinasi also talked about how her bag company turned the "really unsexy" task of schlepping things around into New York City's hottest accessory. From makeup artists to grandmas getting groceries to moms carpooling to soccer practice – Hulken thrives on user-generated content and authentic reviews. "Shlepping is universal," she said. "By leaning into that, we actually created a sense of authenticity, of honesty, that our audience can really relate to. So this feeling of relatability is actually hugely impactful." Newsweek weekend reporter Mandy Taheri moderates the "Redefining the Market: How Women in Business Are Transforming Consumer Engagement" panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at the One World Trade... Newsweek weekend reporter Mandy Taheri moderates the "Redefining the Market: How Women in Business Are Transforming Consumer Engagement" panel during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025 at the One World Trade Center in New York City. Panelists include NFL VP Sarah Bishop, Hulken president Alex Schinasi and Coach Collaborations and Coachtopia SVP Jennifer Yue. More Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek When entering a new company or board, it is also crucial to observe and learn as much about the company as possible from the jump. Bridget Ryan Berman, member of the board of directors of the Asbury Automotive Group, Newell Brands and Tanger Inc., spoke on the "Women on Boards" panel about how making an impact comes in a variety of forms and strengthens with time and experience. Good leaders, she said, don't lead with ego. "Oftentimes, people try to oversell themselves," she said. "You see that often in a boardroom, you read about people who come in and they want to take the oxygen around the room," she said. "It's really about becoming a student of that company and of the business and the industry they're in and leaning into that really from day one." Deconstruct the myth of having it all Finally, in a room of accomplished and powerful women, there is a lingering pressure to "have it all." But at the final chat of the day, Indra Nooyi shut down the myth of being perfect. "You can't just be average at being a mother, average in being a wife and average at being an executive ... you've got to be good at the job, and the burden falls on us [women]," she said. "So I look at all this and say, we are lying to women that you can have it all. Let's be honest and say it's that difficult. It's a juggling act. Just hope the most important balls don't drop." Part of deconstructing the expectation of having it all is being authentic, even when things are tough. Melody Lee, chief marketing officer at Mercedes-Benz USA, said in the leadership panel that she wished the previous generation of working women could have been more vulnerable and honest about when they failed. "Women before felt pressure not to see the cracks... but it's not a linear path," she said. Former PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Nooyi and Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham debunk the myth of "having it all" during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World Trade Center... Former PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Nooyi and Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham debunk the myth of "having it all" during the Women's Global Impact forum on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the One World Trade Center in New York City. More Weston Kloefkorn | For Newsweek Dismantling norms is not only reserved for the office – women are also working to get rid of stigmas about their health and bodies. During the "Female Founders: Navigating the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem" panel earlier in the day, Megababe founder Katie Sturino shared how her own struggles with body acceptance and thigh chafing inspired the launch of her company that aims to alleviate the physical problems women face but are often too embarrassed to discuss. Additionally, both Dr. Jessica Shepard, the chief medical officer of Hers, and Jannine Versi, co-founder and CEO of Elektra Health, discussed how there is still a lot of shame and a lack of information surrounding menopause. By being authentic, attentive, adaptable and open to building connections, women in all industries and experience levels can thrive in the workplace. Women have made incredible strides in the professional world, but there is much work to be done. And hopefully, the women at the Women's Global Impact Forum were inspired enough to take these lessons back to their organizations and start fostering change. As Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Bonnie Barczykowski put it in a statement to Newsweek, "If the energy in the room is any indication of mobilizing change – we're on our way!"
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boggi Milano Opens Columbus Circle Store
Boggi Milano is continuing its U.S. retail rollout with the opening of a third New York City store at The Shops at Columbus Circle. The 4,735-square-foot, two-level store offers street access as well as an entrance from inside the mall. More from WWD All the Beauty Retail Expansions of 2025 EXCLUSIVE: Sakara Enters Credo Beauty With New Gut and Skin Health Supplement, Doubling Down on Both Beauty and Wellness EXCLUSIVE: Prada CEO Gianfranco D'Attis to Exit the Brand The Columbus Circle store joins a single-level 1,800-square-foot store at 115 Mercer Street in SoHo that opened in February, and the 5,920-square-foot flagship on Madison Avenue that debuted in April. The stores offer a mix of the company's Active, Casual, Formal and Easy Formal categories as well as its signature tailored clothing, all with an Italian sartorial sensibility with a strong emphasis on organic fibers, recycled materials and certified performance fabrics. The three New York stores mark the U.S. debut of the Milan-based company that operates 240 stores in 60 countries and has annual revenue of $420 million. 'These openings aren't just new stores — they represent a dream come true,' said Alessandro Cappelli, U.S. chief executive officer of Boggi Milano. 'We're bringing a contemporary vision of Italian menswear to the U.S., built on quality, craftsmanship, and timeless style — supported by an outstanding team and world-class product.' Claudio Zaccardi, president, CEO and creative director of the family-owned company, has said this is just the beginning of an aggressive U.S. expansion with stores planned for Miami; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Houston; Dallas; Los Angeles, and San Francisco over the next five years. As Zaccardi said at the Madison Avenue store opening: 'The U.S. is the most important country in the world and we believe that we are a global brand now, but you can't really be a global brand if you're not in the U.S. — especially for menswear.' In addition to its own stores, Boggi Milano is also expanding its wholesale presence in the U.S., starting with the Bloomingdale's flagship on 59th Street in New York followed by additional doors in July and September. 'This collaboration represents much more than a commercial operation: it is an opportunity to spread our style and philosophy to a wider audience,' said Zaccardi. 'Thanks to the support and prestige of Bloomingdale's, we can bring to the United States a vision of Italian menswear elegance that combines quality, craftsmanship, and innovation, helping to consolidate our presence in the international premium segment.' Boggi is fully owned by the Zaccardi family, which has a long history in apparel and menswear. It started with Zaccardi's grandfather, who was a childrenswear tailor and retailer in Monza, Italy, outside Milan. The store passed to his mother, who continued to focus on childrenswear until 1985 when Zaccardi and his brothers took over the business and converted it to a luxury multibrand retail store called Brian & Barry that they continue to operate. In 2003, the Zaccardi family purchased Boggi Milano, a Milan-based brand known for its tailored menswear, for around $14.6 million. At the time of the purchase, Boggi operated 22 stores. Best of WWD China's Streetwear Whisperer: Peter Zhong Some 600 Exhibitors Expected at Pitti Uomo's 101st Edition Peter Manning Purchased by Longtime CEO Who Plans Expansion
Eater
04-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
Review: I Tried (and Loved) Purple Carrot's Plant-Based Meal Kits
At their best, delivery meal kits have led me to some relaxing Blue Apron-sponsored ASMR videos; at their worst, the very mention of a meal kit stirs up memories of my late great-grandmother's dreary Meals on Wheels microwaveables. Sometime in the 2010s, however, meal kit delivery subscriptions went through a renaissance in the United States, and today the several-billion-dollar industry boasts options for all kinds of diets, household sizes, and, dare I say, aesthetics (Goop lords = Sakara subscriptions ahoy). As a passionate but often exhausted home cook who loves her cruciferous-vegetable-heavy meals, that's why I wanted to give Purple Carrot's plant-based meal kit subscription a try. I signed up for about a work-week's worth of dinner kits, which, for me, meant four meals, each with one or two servings. My hopes and dreams were as follows: Please include plenty of vegetables that don't suck; please don't take more than an hour to cook; and please don't include an abundance of pre-made, sugar-filled sauces and salad dressings that Jacques Pepin would classify as dessert. The following is a breakdown of my week eating à la Purple Carrot, from the good to the confusing to the downright surprising. What is Purple Carrot? Isn't it vegan or whatever? Embarrassingly, it took me a moment to realize that Purple Carrot is a plant-based meal kit service. The main draw for me was simply that the platform's meals, which range from ready-to-eat microwaveables to more elaborate tofu shawarma bowl meal kits, looked tasty regardless of dietary needs. (Now, post-trial-period, I'm actually convinced that even my meat-loving family members would be satisfied with this hearty, elote-style creamed corn as a main.) Purple Carrot first popped off in 2014, which doesn't seem that long ago, but was the same year that Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence came out and Solange kicked Jay-Z in that elevator (were we ever so young?). Purple Carrot was actually the first vegan meal kit subscription service in the United States, and it has been perfecting its model for over a decade and has partnered with the likes of Mark Bittman to develop many of its (now) hundreds of recipes. As Purple Carrot explains, '[we've] expanded from being solely a meal-kit company to offering holistic plant-based grocery needs and a constantly rotating chef-crafted menu to subscribers each week.' Are the meals (actually) tasty? I selected three meal kits, the kung pao cauliflower with garlicky cucumbers, jackfruit gyros with quick pickles and tzatziki, and barbecued mushrooms with crispy potatoes and spicy Brussels sprouts, and one pre-made meal for a night that I knew I would have zero time to cook, a burrito bowl with a handful of plantains. In order to test the idiot-proof nature of these meals, I made my first dinner after coming home from spontaneous drinks with friends. I was tempted to order my dinner on Caviar, but when I glanced at the packet of DIY gyros in my fridge with its 20 minute cooking time label, I thought, I could do this. And I did, in fact, do it in under 20 minutes. Here are the gyros I chose for my first grand Purple Carrot experiment: Purple Carrot meals arrive in a cooler-packed cardboard box, with the different meals in their own individual bags (so you never get confused about what goes with what). I followed the recipe religiously, and while it was layered up with enough tomato and mint and quick pickles to feel refreshing and substantial, I started to realize the cleverness of Purple Carrot's meals as less of a one-and-done approach to meal kits and more of an accessible blueprint to developing your own takes on its recipes. Even the recipe instructions come in individual, thick-paper folders with pictures, tips, and measurements so that you can store them for future use. Next time I make jackfruit gyros, for example, I made a note on the recipe to add in a bit of smoked paprika, avocado, and feta. As you build your meal kit plan online, keep in mind that you can accommodate different dietary needs such as high-protein, low-calorie, low sodium, gluten-free, and nut-free. While I enjoyed the gyros and was impressed by how easy it was to make and customize them, the stars of the meal kit lineup were without a doubt the barbecue mushroom dish and kung pao cauliflower, both of which had sauces worth licking the bowl for, and surprised me by showing me that I can actually enjoy mushrooms, which I had previously semi-sworn off after eating far too many in my 15 years as a vegetarian. The ready-to-eat burrito bowl was a little too quinoa-forward for my taste, and gave me a jumpscare back to the kale-and-quinoa-obsessed years of health food yore, but I zhuzhed it with some avocado, lime, and cilantro. My only gripe with my meal kit plan was the portion size, which was entirely decent for me but always left my partner, a person who actually works out and needs more calories than I do, craving a little more to munch. But I guess that's also why Purple Carrot has its grocery section, which is filled with all kinds of little snacks and drinks. Still, no one likes doing a fair amount of meal prep, easy or laborious, and being hungry after your meal. How much does all of this cost? Is it cheaper than eating out? At about $11 per serving, Purple Carrot is definitely cheaper than eating out, but is probably more expensive than if I were to go out and buy my own ingredients à la carte — of course, that may vary depending on grocery prices in your region. But that isn't factoring in how much the meal kits save me time- and bandwidth-wise; the ingredients I received in my box were all fresh and unbruised, the spice mixes and oils come pre-measured, and everything can be whipped up in under an hour (and often under 30 minutes). It's easy to get excited about eating penne pesto alla trapanese after a long work day, but less easy to hype myself up to schlep to the grocery store on the subway only to return home to stand over a stove for another hour to make it. That's the bandwidth factor, and one that I don't take lightly. (It's worth noting that you can cancel your subscription at any time without penalty, as long as you do so the Tuesday before your next scheduled delivery, meaning that it's easy to accommodate dinner plans or skip a week for whatever reason.) I would also argue that Purple Carrot makes for a much more cost-effective way to dabble in different cuisines without requiring me, for example, to spend $12 on a jar of ras el hanout that I'm just not going to use very often. If anything, Purple Carrot ended up giving me several blueprints for adapting some of its signature meals in the future — but more on that in the next section. Is Purple Carrot worth it? With some caveats, Purple Carrot restored not only my faith in delivery meal kits, but reminded me of why I love plant-based eating so much. I'm not going to go on a crusade about the benefits of eating plant-based meals (plenty of studies and medical centers can do that for me) but I always cleaned the plates of my Purple Carrot dinners feeling satiated and refreshed — lighter than I feel after eating a big plate of meat, for sure (a common sentiment reported by vegetarians). As someone who recently started eating meat again, I have been sobrassada-ing too close to the sun and, admittedly, missing that feeling of feeling satisfied without feeling heavy after eating a large portion of meat As a busy and tired person, I have also hated watching my inventiveness in the kitchen take a backseat to other tasks in my life, a New York City cliché if ever there was one, although I don't yet store my shoes in my oven. Purple Carrot not only kept me fed, but genuinely interested in the flavors and spices I was about to explore. If I had the budget to spend about $100 a week on the service, I would go for it without question. As it stands, I can see myself doing the occasional splurge for a week of Purple Carrot meals during a period that I know I'll be booked and busy. I would also suggest giving a subscription to a friend or family member who just graduated, went vegetarian or vegan, or moved into their first place, because these meal kits really do moonlight as recipe cards designed for personalization. Sign up for Purple Carrot (or just browse its menu) here.
Eater
04-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
I Have Found a Surprisingly Great Meal Kit Plan for a Lazy (But Discerning) Person
At their best, delivery meal kits have led me to some relaxing Blue Apron-sponsored ASMR videos; at their worst, the very mention of a meal kit stirs up memories of my late great-grandmother's dreary Meals on Wheels microwaveables. Sometime in the 2010s, however, meal kit delivery subscriptions went through a renaissance in the United States, and today the several-billion-dollar industry boasts options for all kinds of diets, household sizes, and, dare I say, aesthetics (Goop lords = Sakara subscriptions ahoy). As a passionate but often exhausted home cook who loves her cruciferous-vegetable-heavy meals, that's why I wanted to give Purple Carrot's plant-based meal kit subscription a try. I signed up for about a work-week's worth of dinner kits, which, for me, meant four meals, each with one or two servings. My hopes and dreams were as follows: Please include plenty of vegetables that don't suck; please don't take more than an hour to cook; and please don't include an abundance of pre-made, sugar-filled sauces and salad dressings that Jacques Pepin would classify as dessert. The following is a breakdown of my week eating à la Purple Carrot, from the good to the confusing to the downright surprising. What is Purple Carrot? Isn't it vegan or whatever? Embarrassingly, it took me a moment to realize that Purple Carrot is a plant-based meal kit service. The main draw for me was simply that the platform's meals, which range from ready-to-eat microwaveables to more elaborate tofu shawarma bowl meal kits, looked tasty regardless of dietary needs. (Now, post-trial-period, I'm actually convinced that even my meat-loving family members would be satisfied with this hearty, elote-style creamed corn as a main.) Purple Carrot first popped off in 2014, which doesn't seem that long ago, but was the same year that Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence came out and Solange kicked Jay-Z in that elevator (were we ever so young?). Purple Carrot was actually the first vegan meal kit subscription service in the United States, and it has been perfecting its model for over a decade and has partnered with the likes of Mark Bittman to develop many of its (now) hundreds of recipes. As Purple Carrot explains, '[we've] expanded from being solely a meal-kit company to offering holistic plant-based grocery needs and a constantly rotating chef-crafted menu to subscribers each week.' Are the meals (actually) tasty? I selected three meal kits, the kung pao cauliflower with garlicky cucumbers, jackfruit gyros with quick pickles and tzatziki, and barbecued mushrooms with crispy potatoes and spicy Brussels sprouts, and one pre-made meal for a night that I knew I would have zero time to cook, a burrito bowl with a handful of plantains. In order to test the idiot-proof nature of these meals, I made my first dinner after coming home from spontaneous drinks with friends. I was tempted to order my dinner on Caviar, but when I glanced at the packet of DIY gyros in my fridge with its 20 minute cooking time label, I thought, I could do this . And I did, in fact, do it in under 20 minutes. Here are the gyros I chose for my first grand Purple Carrot experiment: Purple Carrot meals arrive in a cooler-packed cardboard box, with the different meals in their own individual bags (so you never get confused about what goes with what). I followed the recipe religiously, and while it was layered up with enough tomato and mint and quick pickles to feel refreshing and substantial, I started to realize the cleverness of Purple Carrot's meals as less of a one-and-done approach to meal kits and more of an accessible blueprint to developing your own takes on its recipes. Even the recipe instructions come in individual, thick-paper folders with pictures, tips, and measurements so that you can store them for future use. Next time I make jackfruit gyros, for example, I made a note on the recipe to add in a bit of smoked paprika, avocado, and feta. As you build your meal kit plan online, keep in mind that you can accommodate different dietary needs such as high-protein, low-calorie, low sodium, gluten-free, and nut-free. While I enjoyed the gyros and was impressed by how easy it was to make and customize them, the stars of the meal kit lineup were without a doubt the barbecue mushroom dish and kung pao cauliflower, both of which had sauces worth licking the bowl for, and surprised me by showing me that I can actually enjoy mushrooms, which I had previously semi-sworn off after eating far too many in my 15 years as a vegetarian. The ready-to-eat burrito bowl was a little too quinoa-forward for my taste, and gave me a jumpscare back to the kale-and-quinoa-obsessed years of health food yore, but I zhuzhed it with some avocado, lime, and cilantro. My only gripe with my meal kit plan was the portion size, which was entirely decent for me but always left my partner, a person who actually works out and needs more calories than I do, craving a little more to munch. But I guess that's also why Purple Carrot has its grocery section, which is filled with all kinds of little snacks and drinks. Still, no one likes doing a fair amount of meal prep, easy or laborious, and being hungry after your meal. How much does all of this cost? Is it cheaper than eating out? At about $11 per serving, Purple Carrot is definitely cheaper than eating out, but is probably more expensive than if I were to go out and buy my own ingredients à la carte — of course, that may vary depending on grocery prices in your region. But that isn't factoring in how much the meal kits save me time- and bandwidth-wise; the ingredients I received in my box were all fresh and unbruised, the spice mixes and oils come pre-measured, and everything can be whipped up in under an hour (and often under 30 minutes). It's easy to get excited about eating penne pesto alla trapanese after a long work day, but less easy to hype myself up to schlep to the grocery store on the subway only to return home to stand over a stove for another hour to make it. That's the bandwidth factor, and one that I don't take lightly. (It's worth noting that you can cancel your subscription at any time without penalty, as long as you do so the Tuesday before your next scheduled delivery, meaning that it's easy to accommodate dinner plans or skip a week for whatever reason.) I would also argue that Purple Carrot makes for a much more cost-effective way to dabble in different cuisines without requiring me, for example, to spend $12 on a jar of ras el hanout that I'm just not going to use very often. If anything, Purple Carrot ended up giving me several blueprints for adapting some of its signature meals in the future — but more on that in the next section. Is Purple Carrot worth it? With some caveats, Purple Carrot restored not only my faith in delivery meal kits, but reminded me of why I love plant-based eating so much. I'm not going to go on a crusade about the benefits of eating plant-based meals (plenty of studies and medical centers can do that for me) but I always cleaned the plates of my Purple Carrot dinners feeling satiated and refreshed — lighter than I feel after eating a big plate of meat, for sure (a common sentiment reported by vegetarians). As someone who recently started eating meat again, I have been sobrassada-ing too close to the sun and, admittedly, missing that feeling of feeling satisfied without feeling heavy after eating a large portion of meat As a busy and tired person, I have also hated watching my inventiveness in the kitchen take a backseat to other tasks in my life, a New York City cliché if ever there was one, although I don't yet store my shoes in my oven. Purple Carrot not only kept me fed, but genuinely interested in the flavors and spices I was about to explore. If I had the budget to spend about $100 a week on the service, I would go for it without question. As it stands, I can see myself doing the occasional splurge for a week of Purple Carrot meals during a period that I know I'll be booked and busy. I would also suggest giving a subscription to a friend or family member who just graduated, went vegetarian or vegan, or moved into their first place, because these meal kits really do moonlight as recipe cards designed for personalization. Sign up for Purple Carrot (or just browse its menu) here . The freshest news from the food world every day
WIRED
04-04-2025
- Health
- WIRED
The Best Protein Powders
Photograph: Boutayna Chokrane Sakara Protein + Greens Super Powder for $90: With 17 grams of plant-based protein per serving, Sakara's Protein + Greens is just thr3e shy of the 20-gram benchmark we aim for. The blend of pea, hemp, and pumpkin proteins is bolstered by a 'super greens' mix of spirulina, wheatgrass, barley grass, and chlorella. Is it dramatically transforming my gut health? Probably not. But on days when my vegetable and protein intake is low, a scoop of this in my smoothie (plus some Greek yogurt for an extra 18 grams of protein) makes me feel a little less like a goblin surviving on iced coffee and string cheese. Ghost Whey Protein Powder for $50 (2.2 pounds): Ghost is the protein powder for people who want their post-workout snack to taste like dessert. With flavors like Oreo, Cinnabon, and Chips Ahoy!, it's arguably one of the best-tasting whey proteins on the market. Each scoop delivers 26 grams of protein (50 percent of daily value) and blends well in shakes, oats, or even DIY protein ice cream. The trade-off here is a longer ingredient list that includes gums, high-fructose corn syrup, and titanium dioxide—a whitening pigment banned as a food additive in Europe. Wavelength Vanilla Protein Powder for $55: In addition to 20 grams of pea protein per serving, Wavelength's plant-based powder boasts trendy adaptogens and nootropics like maca root, ashwagandha, and Chaga mushroom extract. The brand doesn't disclose how much of each is in the mix, so it's hard to say if they're doing much beyond adding to the price tag. The taste is deeply earthy, which makes it better suited for baking than chugging. Wavelength also makes Little Ripples, a protein powder formulated for kids, but we haven't tested it yet. Aloha 12oz Chocolate Sea Salt Protein Drink (Pack of 12) for $33: Aloha's protein powder is still on my testing docket, but I have tried the brand's ready-to-drink shakes. The chocolate sea salt is surprisingly tasty; it's creamy and rich, but there's a faint aftertaste. I sometimes use the vanilla flavor as a milk base for smoothies, and there's also a coconut flavor I haven't gotten my hands on yet. Each serving packs 20 grams of plant-based protein. BSN True-Mass Weight Gainer, Muscle Mass Gainer Protein Powder for $83: If you're trying to bulk up or struggle to hit your calorie goals, BSN True Mass is worth considering. This mass gainer packs 1,200 calories per serving, with 50 grams of protein and 215 grams of carbohydrates. Its protein blend includes whey concentrate, casein, milk protein isolate, whey protein isolate, hydrolyzed whey isolate, and micellar casein, so you get a mix of fast and slow-digesting proteins. It also delivers 450 milligrams of calcium and 880 milligrams of potassium, which is a bonus if you want to squeeze in some micronutrients. It tastes great—the strawberry milkshake flavor is spot-on—but these are two scoops at 310 grams, so you'll need to be comfortable with the jumbo serving size. I can't fully endorse the formula because it's packed with artificial sweeteners like sucralose and acesulfame potassium, as well as some iffy additives including maltodextrin and a gum blend (cellulose, guar, gum Arabic, and xanthan) that might not sit well with everyone. If you have a sensitive stomach, you might want to pass. This one brings protein farts to a new level. Accessories to Try Photograph: the beast Beast Mega 1200 for $199: If you're looking to level up your smoothie game, Mega's 1,200-watt motor cuts through frozen fruit, powders, and fibrous foods with an ease that personal blenders can't match. One button, a timed cycle, and consistent chunk-free results. The three included Tritan vessels are designed with ribbed interiors that boost turbulence for silkier smoothies. Plus, the drinking lid and straw system transforms your blender into a travel cup without the extra dishes. It's available in five colors—cloud white, carbon black, navy, sand, sage, and charcoal—and backed by a two-year warranty. Vitamix Ascent X5 for $750: The Vitamix Ascent X5 is expensive, but if you're in the market for an all-purpose blender, this is the one that makes smoothies feel like an art form. It's got 10 preset programs (smoothie bowls, nut butters, nondairy milks, and more), which means your protein recipes can get as creative as you want. It has a tamper for the thickest of shakes, and the on-screen indicator tells you exactly when to step in. Plus, if your blend needs more mixing, hit the 'add 15 seconds' button. The self-cleaning mode is my favorite feature; it's not groundbreaking, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out with a dull chopstick than scrub post-smoothie gunk off a blender. Plus, it's backed by a 10-year warranty, which makes it an investment worth considering. Ninja Blast Portable Blender for $53: Finally, for an affordable option, you might want to consider Ninja's tiny portable blender, which charges via USB-C. The motor isn't super powerful, and the battery isn't long-lived (one charge lasts long enough to thoroughly blend one yogurt smoothie with frozen berries), but this blender is affordable, the vessel and lid are dishwasher-safe, and it's tiny enough to have a permanent home on editor Adrienne So's counter. She has been using this daily for a year to make morning smoothies from Greek yogurt, milk, and frozen berries and bananas with no issues.
