So Fresh

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NOSA: Before Lagos fully caught the fitness bug, there was So Fresh. When I moved back a couple years again, So Fresh on Awolowo was the only place I knew you could get a smoothie.

A lot has changed since then. Lots of food vendors have entered the fitness lane and crowded So Fresh's, once niche, space. When things like that happen, you can only evolve as business and evolve is what it appears So Fresh has done.

FOLLY: For Nigeria, So Fresh has a sophisticated online ordering system. 

NOSA: Very seamless process and they deserve props for that.

FOLLY: The healthy food vendors want us all to get our healthy fix and not blame them for lack of payment problems.

NOSA: It's 2017, Paystack didn't die for this payment on delivery stress.

FOLLY: Both Smoothie Express and So Fresh are well ahead of their peers in, first of all, offering website order and, more importantly, incorporating online payment into said order. Most of the companies are still in the "Text/Call/Whatsapp to order".

It's also a plus that both Smoothie Express and So Fresh deliver all over Lagos, so it shows they are committed to getting Lagosians healthy - love it. 

NOSA: Impressive delivery range.

FOLLY: Initially, when I started the order process for So Fresh, I wasn't in a review mindset. I just wanted something healthy and non-carby to have for lunch as the office caterers are literally trying to kill me with rice.

When I was trying to choose my salad and I noticed So Fresh's new robust online ordering platform. Immediately, I hit Nosa up on a "hey you should also order this so that we could do a review on it" thing.

NOSA: I wasn't really feeling like a salad so I went with the Chicken Wrap and the Day Starter smoothie.

FOLLY: Out of about six salad options and >10 smoothies/juices, I settled on the Sweet & Spicy Chicken Salad and Morning Zing. 

My salad was a mix of lettuce, cabbage, sweet corn, carrots grapes, and chicken. While my smoothie the Morning Zing was a blend of kale, lettuce, banana and pineapple. 

The Morning Zing tasted exactly like a smoothie I used to make for myself  sometime ago with ugwu. It didn't taste the slightest bit grassy because the leaves were well blended. I would have liked to see a bit more pineapple for sweetness. Two thumbs up to So Fresh on the transportation of the smoothie because it arrived cold, still frozen with little to no condensation on the cup container.

NOSA: My wrap arrived cold and my smoothie arrived warm. A bit of a weird role reversal going on. Such a shame because the smoothie was quality and at the right temperature, this would've been straight thumbs up from me.

The wrap, on the other hand, wasn't for me. For a chicken wrap, there was way more potato than chicken in it.

Yes, potato. It's apparently their take on it.

I am a bit scared to call it outright rubbish because perhaps it is an acquired taste. And in that line of thought, it truly isn't for me.

FOLLY: The salad also left me impressed. I was especially delighted when I saw the size and quantity of the grapes. The default is that most food service companies skimp on the imported/more expensive ingredients and just fill up the salad with lettuce and cabbage, but So Fresh defied my expectations.

Furthermore, the name of the salad couldn't have been more perfect: the chicken was spicy but not peppery hot, and the grapes and the dressing provided the sweetness. I can't review this salad without mentioning the packaging because I loved the fact that I could drizzle my dressing, seal the container and then shake it to toss my salad - it stresses me out when I have to empty a to-go salad from its container to perform this important step. 

NOSA:  Last thing, N500 for VI delivery is ridiculously steep. I am ordering from the Ikoyi store. VI is a walk away.

POSTSCRIPT

FOLLY: So Fresh delivers in the quality and freshness of its food, ingredients and customer service. 

NOSA: Unlike Folly, I'll never order from So Fresh again. You might have to hold me at gun point before I consider and even at that, dying might feel better than my chicken wrap tasted.

FOLLY: My order took longer than the advised 90 minutes to be delivered but the customer service rep on the other side of the phone was polite and knowledgeable. Even though she couldn't reach the rider at that moment, she could tell me the exact time my order left their store and assured me that it'll be with me soonest. And sure enough, no sooner than 5 minutes after that call, my order arrived. 

VERDICT

DAMAGE

Sweet & Spicy Chicken Salad - N2000

Morning Zing (Cup) - N1200

Chicken Wrap - N1500

Day Starter (Cup) - N1200

DELIVERY

Varies by location.