Healthy sandwiches win the spot at Gardenia’s Next Big Sandwich Hit

These healthy sandwiches made from Gardenia enriched white bread were passed around to spectators during the Next Big Sandwich Hit culinary showdown. Participants consisted of HRM students from various universities in Metro Manila. Photo by Ma. Glaiza Lee for InterAksyon.com.

Bread. Portable, compact, and sold everywhere, it’s arguably the world’s most popular food. Yet, in the Philippines where bakeries thrive—from the neighborhood panaderia to the trendier bakery cafés or artisanal shops—the per capita consumption of wheat-based products, bread in particular, remains very low.

Gardenia Philippines president Simplicio Umali attributes this to the fact that Filipinos find rice to be more filling than bread: “Filipinos like their rice so much because it fills them right away. When you eat rice, it expands in the stomach and fills it up instantly. Bread is not as filling as rice, however it is more nutritious. Right now, the bread industry in the Philippines is flat primarily because consumers are holding back on their expenditures, especially now that they are preparing for the Christmas season. It is really affecting the volume sale of the bread sale.”

Gardenia Philippines president Simplicio Umali recently led the celebration of World Bread Day to promote healthy breads and to gain more appreciation for the various breads created by bakers. Photo by Ma. Glaiza Lee for InterAksyon.com.

Umali spoke to InterAksyon during the Happy Bread Day event held recently at SM Mall of Asia in celebration of World Bread Day. The annual celebration aims to heighten awareness on the nutritional value of bread and draw attention to the efforts bakers carefully put in to make them.

Umali added, “Before, the breakfast consumption ratio was 80 to 90 percent rice and only 10 percent bread. But now, it has gone down to 60, event reaching as low as 50. The consumption of bread is getting stronger, except on the lower sector which still consumes more rice. But the ABC income sectors, which is about 40 percent of the population, now prefer bread for breakfast, especially with their fast-paced lifestyle.”

Healthier breads
As a bread company, Umali enthused, it is their responsibility to bring healthy eating habit to the consciousness of the consumers. “We have to make people think about their health. Instead of eating more rice, consume bread which has more vitamins and minerals, more nutritious than rice,” advised Umali.

High-wheat breads can be a good source of fiber which is beneficial to the digestive system, as well as vitamins B-complex which is needed to produce energy. Breads with nuts and seeds are high in healthy fats which is good for the heart. “It has more nutrients inherent to its base ingredients such as calcium. It only ha iodine and vitamin A, which can be found in the flour as mandated by our government. We even put folate,” shared Umali.

Although bread can be part of a healthy diet, choosing the right kind of bread and watching portion size are something one needs to take into consideration. Not all breads are healthy options, such as heavily-processed white bread with little nutritional value. When buying bread, check the nutritional chart, make sure it has lower glycemic index (which means the bread has a slower release rate of sugar into the blood stream), contains high fiber and is made from whole grain.

It is easy to keep on munching bread, but watch the portions. A person with a 2,000-calorie plan only needs six servings of grains, which includes all its by-products such as bread, pasta and oatmeal, among others.

Next Healthy Sandwich Hit
Healthy bread should go with healthy toppings or fillings. Adding sugar-laced, high-calorie and fat-filled toppings can turn any healthy bread into junks.

“That is why we launched The Next Big Sandwich Hit. While there are many varieties of bread, one must eat good food and it is not just having bread, but it’s also finding out what delicious spread and filing to use, while still making it a healthy snack,” said Umali.

Ten teams from top HRM and culinary universities—Adamson University, Far Eastern University, La Consolacion College, National University, Philippine Women’s University, St. Paul Quezon City, St. Scholastica’s College Manila, University of the East, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas–competed in the tough and gruelling three-stage sandwich-making competition.

During the finale, the teams went through Audience Votes and the Main Cooking Challenge components.

For the Audience Votes, teams were given an hour to prepare and serve the audience 100 bite-sized sandwiches; while for the Main Cooking Challenge, they had 40 minutes to create and present two thematic full-sized sandwiches to the judges. The themes included the Sexy Sandwich, defined as healthy yet delicious sandwich, and the Philippines City Sandwich which would depict a certain Philippine city that was assigned to each team.

Bianca Cadizal and Vanessa Andrada, culinary students from National University, emerged as grand prize winner for their Pan-grilled Herb-infused Chicken and Tofu Sandwich and their Pan Fusionado. Photo by Ma. Glaiza Lee for InterAksyon.com.

After completing the challenges, Bianca Cadizal and Vanessa Andrada, the duo from National University, emerged as the grand prize winner, with their Pan-grilled Herb-infused Chicken and Tofu Sandwich with balsamic reduction and served in a Martini glass and their Pan Fusionado sandwich which was influenced by the Manila’s culinary heritage.

Coming in second was the team from La Consolacion College. Maria Beatriz Sarte and Adryx Ivan Rafols created the Gardenia Healthy Box Sandwich in a bamboo bento box filled with granola, raisins and assorted dried fruits, and the Longganiza Royale Sandwich, honoring Vigan’s famous longganisa.

Third place went to Philippine Women’s University’s Roven Jayson Amistad and Jose Mari V. Tanglao who wowed the judges with their Gardenia Sexylicious Tuna and Shrimp Tempura Overload and their Gardenia Creamy Durian & Coffee Duo Sandwich, representing the beautiful province of Davao.